KAILUA-KONA —Hawaii Preparatory Academy defeated Kealakehe in a 4-set match in Kailua-Kona on Monday.
Ka Makani steamrolled through the first set, taking it 25-16. However, HPA struggled to find consistency in the second set and the Waveriders pounced 25-20 to tie the match.
Ka Makani balanced out in the final two sets, winning 25-15 and 25-18 to take the match.
“It was kind of up and down and when we were down Kealakehe caught fire,” said HPA coach Sharon Peterson. “That is something we need to work on. We need to try to maintain a solid consistency throughout.”
HPA entered the contest with an obvious height advantage at the net, Ka Makani took the first set behind the play of Madi Lee and Gemma Palleschi. With the set tied at 10, Palleschi took over with a kill, and then immediately toed the line and picked up an ace.
With a five point advantage, Lee sent a hard shot down the middle. A few points later, Palleschi sent in a cross from the left side of the court that found hardwood. Lee then tapped a floater over that caught the Waveriders defense off-guard for a 10 point advantage.
“Madi is our main person at the net and in the back court,” Peterson said. “She and Gemma are our main two hitters and we rely on them a lot.”
In the second set, the Waveriders found an answer for HPA’s net play while also dominating from the service line. Ka Makani’s back line struggled to return serves, but it was a little 3-point service run by Kealakehe libero Faith Hernandez that decided the set.
The Waveriders jumped out to an early set advantage, going up 16-9, but a rally by Hawaii Prep, behind the serves of Emma Saito, cut the deficit to 16-14. However, Kealakehe forced the turnover and Hernandez picked up three points to give her team some breathing room.
Hawaii Prep returned to dominating form in the third set behind Lindsey’s solid serves at the line. After a little back-and-forth play early in the set, Ka Makani went up 10-6 and then started to pulled away. Their biggest lead came on a Lindsey serve, which put HPA up 24-13. Set point came off a Waveriders serve out of bounds.
Kealakehe was not done battling and in the fourth set, the team tied Hawaii Prep five times within the first 18 points of the match. At 9-9, Ka Makani began to pull way with Lindsey at the line again. She picked up an ace at 12-9 before Kealakehe managed to get the ball back.
A couple of points later, Lee scored on a soft-touch kill in the middle of the court. She went to the line and added two more points. Teammate Vanessa Grey also did well at the line and Ka Makani quickly built a 20-12 lead.
Kealakehe’s Jamie Freitas tried to keep the Waveriders in the game but Hawaii Prep later put the match away when a serve by Hernandez went out of bounds.