And then there were seven.
Only seven varsity players dressed up for this match against Kamehameha Schools Maui: #1 Lyla-Marie Talaroc-Kaniho, #3 Sachiko Soares, #4 Leilani Miranda, #5 Kawena Murray, #9 Kulia Murray, #10 Jessica Wallace, #12 Danielle Shaffer. Not sure where Caidee Nobriga, Jasmine Mehana Chang or Tricia Kama were (could be softball). Although reading between the lines on Tricia Kama’s Facebook page, it appears that she may have quit the team (but I admit that is only speculation on my part).
Despite being down in numbers, they seemed to be unified in spirit and purpose. They were loose, smiling and laughing and picking each other up. Reserve Danielle Shaffer came in and made some quality digs in the backcourt. When used primarily as a hitter, senior Kulia Murray was very effective as was her sister Kawena. Jessica Wallace was steady as the setter. Leilani Miranda tried valiantly to put up an effective middle block, but she was just too undersized against her opponents. It was when the roles were reversed, when Kulia became the primary setter and Jessica an outside hitter, that the Lunas’ momentum, if any, would come to a stop. The Lunas just don’t have enough effective outside hitters – terminators, if you will – that they can consistently go to to score points or stop rallies. At 0-8, it’s been a very long year.
They appeared to hold their own in the first match, but the size, depth and athleticism of Kamehameha overpowered the Lunas. Unfortunately, because of the time schedule and my need to get back to Wailuku to cover the JV football game, I only captured action from the first set.
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| #5 Kawena Murray bumps a pass to the front court as #3 Sachiko Soares looks on |
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| Danielle Shaffer |
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| #9 Kulia Murray skies for the kill |
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| #5 Kawena Murray battles at the net while #12 Danielle Shaffer gets in position to cover |
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| #4 Leilani Miranda goes low to dig the ball as #1 Lyla-Marie Talaroc-Kaniho looks on. |
For more photos, click here.
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