Staecia Silofau came up with a kill to break a 23-all tie, and Avery Perreira ended the match with a kill on an overpass as Maryknoll rallied past Hawaii Baptist 28-30, 25-15, 25-23 on Tuesday night at Clarence T.C. Ching Gymnasium.
Perreira and Ciera Simmonds had nine kills each for a balanced Maryknoll attack. Silofau and Kamryn Correa tallied seven kills apiece as the Spartans improved to 3-0 in Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II play.
Lia Yamamoto led the visiting Eagles with 14 kills. Setter Jessica Yamasato dished 29 assists and added three aces for HBA. Hayley Taka chipped in seven kills and Kylie-Shyne Rivera-Kaahanui had three.
HBA dropped to 1-2.
“This was our first big challenge for us. HBA played very well. It took us awhile to figure things out. We were trying a little bit too much at first, but we were able to calm down and steady the ship a little bit,” Spartans Coach Kalepa Feguis said.
The Eagles had a 14-8 lead in the opening game and never let the home team get an edge. Maryknoll had six hitting errors, but rallied at the net with a block by Correa and an ace by setter Paige Nakanelua. After a right-side kill by Mackenzie Masoe, the Spartans had tied the game at 24.
A net violation, and a setting error ended the first set. Momentum was on the Spartans’ side as they opened a 17-9 lead in the second game and did not allow the lead to get below six points.
The home team was in control of set three, leading 22-15 before the visitors rallied. Yamamoto had eight kills in the final set to help HBA tied the game at 23.
However, Silofau came through with a kill, and Perreira handled an overpass at the middle to put the final kill down.
“It’s always going to be a team effort. If we hadn’t come back as a team, we probably would have fallen short in the third set,” Feguis said.
Libero Rozalynn Cabuena was seemingly everywhere for Maryknoll.
“Roz did her job,” Feguis said.
COMMENTS