Bears secure state berth with sweep of short-handed Lunas
LAHAINA — The Baldwin High School girls volleyball team checked one big box on its to-do list Thursday night at Lahainaluna gym.
The Bears clinched a state tournament berth with the Maui Interscholastic League Division I regular-season title after a 25-15, 2516, 25-19 sweep of the depleted Lunas.
“It’s an enormous step, that’s one of our goals coming into the season,” Baldwin coach Al Paschoal said after his team improved to 9-0. “You never know coming out of COVID exactly what you’re going to be looking at, so you have to put something up on the board and that’s definitely one of the big ones we had up on the board.”
The Bears went on a 7-0 run behind the serving of Natronai Anana to take a 12-9 lead in the first set. The Lunas tied it at 13-13 on a block by Hailey Killett, but the Bears dominated from there, finishing the set on a 7-0 run behind the serving of Kaysha Tanaka.
Tanaka had back-to-back aces to make it 22-15, and Faith Alvior finished the set on a resounding kill.
Baldwin bounced out to a 7-1 lead in the second set before a kill in
of Baldwin sets a second-set ball Thursday.
the middle by Killett slowed the momentum. The Lunas climbed within 14-13 before the Bears went on an 8-1 run to take a 22-14 lead.
Baldwin ended the set on a Lahainaluna hitting error.
A dink followed immediately by a Killett kill made it 5-0 Lunas in the third set. An ace by Jasmine Mathias made it 6-0 and brought a timeout from Paschoal.
Lahainaluna’s lead grew to 12-3, but the Bears climbed within 15-12 after a run capped by an ace by Amanda Naipo.
An Alvior kill tied it at 18, and the teams remained close until a Lunas error and a kill by Ku‘ulei Manaois gave the Bears a 21-19 lead.
Baldwin’s Monique Pante followed with an ace, and the match ended on another Pante ace.
The Bears were led by Tanaka’s eight aces and 18 digs. Lilinoe Paschoal dished out 34 assists to go along with two kills and two aces,