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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, September 4, 2009

Moanalua girls top Farrington in three


by Stanley Lee
Advertiser Staff Writer

Gabriella Matautia's big kills pulled her team through the first two sets, and her teammates helped put the match away.

Matautia had 16 kills and Erin Perez had eight as host Moanalua defeated Farrington, 20-25, 25-20, 15-10, in an O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red East volleyball match last night.

Moanalua, ranked fifth in The Advertiser's Top 10 poll, improved to 5-0 while No. 8 Farrington is 3-2. Both teams meet again Wednesday at Farrington.

"We came together and everyone was like, 'Bring it, bring it now, not later. This is our set,' " Perez said.

"It's 15 points, not a lot of points, so we had to go hard."

The Governors nearly rolled through Set 1, capitalizing on Na Menehune errors before holding off a late rally led by Matautia.

Farrington led 9-7 behind five Moanalua errors, then went on an 11-0 run behind the serving of setter Brandy Vergado-Duclayan and three kills from Brydgette Tatupu-Leopoldo.

Down 20-7, Matautia had five kills to help Moanalua rally to 23-19.

Fraustina Sagapolu's kill put the Governors at set point and both teams traded errors to end the set.

In Set 2, Farrington struggled to get into a rhythm and Moanalua pulled ahead to a 19-11 lead.

On what would've been a Farrington ace, Perez raced toward her team's bench to send the ball over the net. It eventually led to a kill by Meyer.

"I saw Gabby go for the ball and I saw it going out of bounds," Perez said. "I was actually thinking back and forth, 'Should I get it, should I not?' I'm the kind of player that goes for balls."

Farrington rallied to 23-19 on a double block by Sagapolu and Desiree Klemin, but Matautia's fifth and sixth kills of the set ended it.

Perez and Meyer had five kills to carry Moanalua in Set 3, helped by the setting of Carsen Mata and the defense of libero Katiana Ponce.

Matautia's block gave Moanalua a 12-8 lead, but Farrington cut it to 12-10 after a kill and ace by Tatupu-Leopoldo, who led Farrington with six kills.

Matautia then buried kills from the left and right, and Meyer's kill ended it.