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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Kahuku rallies past Roosevelt

Photo galleryPhoto gallery: Kahuku-Roosevelt volleyball

By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Tajana Santiago sets for Kahuku, which improved to 5-0 after beating Roosevelt, 17-25, 25-19, 25-20, at the Rough Riders' gym.

JEFF WIDENER | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Kahuku's Lavinia Latu was pretty quiet for most of the match last night against host Roosevelt.

Then she made a lot of noise from behind the service line at the very end.

Latu served the final five points, including two aces, as Kahuku beat Roosevelt, 17-25, 25-19, 25-20, in an O'ahu Interscholastic Association Division I volleyball match.

"I was blocking out the crowd and taking it one by one, putting it in play," said Latu, who had no kills, two aces and one block in the first two games.

Latu's kill tied it at 20, and then she went back to serve. An ace, a Rough Riders' hitting error, another ace and a kill by Amanda Tonga — after Roosevelt overpassed Latu's serve — brought up match point.

Kahuku won it on a Roosevelt hitting error.

"We're very proud of her," Kahuku coach Uila Fotu Vendiola said of Latu. "She stepped up when we needed her — some tough serves in there. She did exactly what we needed her to do."

Kahuku improved to 5-0, while Roosevelt dropped to 4-1. Kahuku will play Moanalua (4-0) tomorrow night.

"We're very excited to be where we're at right now," Vendiola said. "But we know we still have a long road ahead of us. We have Moanalua coming up on Thursday. So we're enjoying the moment, but we have a lot more work to do."

The Rough Riders took the first game behind a 5-0 run, which made it 22-16. Emily Maeda was behind the service line during the surge.

Kahuku took control in the second game by scoring six consecutive points for a 20-12 advantage. Roosevelt had five consecutive hitting errors, including two blocks by the Red Raiders, and Alayna Galeai capped the surge with an ace.

There were 12 ties and seven lead changes in the third game.

The keys for Kahuku after the first game were its serving and blocking.

In the first game, the Red Raiders had no aces and one block. In the second and third, they had eight aces and seven blocks.

"After the first set, we knew the adjustments we needed to make," Vendiola said.

Roosevelt actually had more kills than Kahuku (37-26), but the Rough Riders were undone by 26 hitting errors. The Red Raiders committed only eight.

"Six inches between the ears," Roosevelt coach Bryan Camello said. "The mental part was different. Kahuku came in very aggressive, very motivated. They got some close calls, they stayed composed and kept the momentum on their side."

Kahuku's Leilani Tafuna had nine kills and Galeai added seven.

"Our team started to talk it out and believing that we could do it," Tafuna said.

Jacey Tagavilla had nine kills and Meleana Yamashiro added eight for Roosevelt.

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.