2011 HHSAA Boys Volleyball States

This year the HHSAA held the Division I Boys State Championship States on the Big Island here in Hilo at Waiakea and Keaau Gymnasiums. The following schools participated in the tournament: Waiakea, Kamehameha-Hawaii, Kamehameha-Kapalama, Baldwin, King Kekaulike, Moanalua, Punahou, and Mililani. Unfortunately now, St. Joseph's boys volleyball team didn't advance to the second round of BIIFs because our boys aren't skilled enough but hopefully that will change soon!
States results are the following:
1st- Kamehameha Schools Kapalama (O'ahu)
2nd- Punahou (O'ahu)
3rd- Moanalua (O'ahu)
4th- Kamehameha Schools Hawaii (Big Island)
5th- Waiakea High School (Big Island)
I went every night to Keaau Gym or Waiakea Gym to watch games. I could talk about every night but the last night was the MOST EXCITING! The last night for the Championship game I got to watch Kamehameha-Kapalama play against Punahou. It was 3 out of 5 sets won. The game only consisted of 3 sets to crown the Kamehameha-Kapalama Boys Volleyball team STATE CHAMPS, but Punahou went out with a fight. Every set, the scores were super close that Punahou only fell short 1-3 points. I can't really say any errors for both teams because that's just how good it was. You pretty much had Punahou fans on one side and Kamehameha fans on the other. The gym was roaring with every kill, ace, or block that happened. I admit, Chynna's "husband" Micah Christenson was on fire that night with an amazing 44 kill attempts with 22 kills coming out of it and 0 hitting errors. Although he fumbled in the back row a few times, I'm sure that was one of his best games ever played.
Leading for Punahou were Sean Greuvner and Tui Tuileta. Both with amazing serves, kills, and passes. Tui is only a freshman but his hits are so SO powerful. In the 3rd set, he went up to hit the ball and when he did he slammed it into one of the Kamehameha boys chest and you could hear it really loudly and the whole gym went "oooooooh!". Very good game though!
After the game before the trophies were presented, all you saw was a swarm of girls running to the court to take pictures with the teams or in Chynna's case... A CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL named Micah Christenson. Who can blame her... I mean 6'6" lean, athletic, muscular, luscious hair flipping Hawaiian hapa boy? No wonder all the girls go crazy over him. He has a full ride scholarship for USC where he plans to attend this fall.
If you weren't at Keaau Gym this past week to witness all of this... well YOU MISSED OUT! (:

End of the Season Reflection

Boys volleyball official season has come to an end. Although we haven't won any games through the season, we have built a strong bond of friendship. There was never a dull moment when one the court or even off the court. But that's just one of our plus sides. Another plus is, from the beginning of the season till now we have developed the skill of volleyball and have put it together. This year we are losing five boys, but we still have a handful amount returning. Today we are heading out to Kohala to play in the play offs. If they take us lightly we have a chance of pulling through with a win because we all know that we are skilled to be competing now on higher levels.

Senior Night

Friday April 15 was Senior Night for Boys Volleyball. We celebrated our five seniors: Ostrander, Dalton, Aldyn, Jon, and Chris Kosick. We played against Waiakea, who rank in the top 5 of the state/island. Although we didnt take the victory we had alot of fun. We went out onto the court to have fun and just play the sport. Getting killed on left and right was a good practice for us to be ready on our toes with our arms locked and knee's bent, for thats what we need to work on. At the end of the game our five seniors took their last spike for their last Cardinal Volleybal home game. Parents, family and friends all had gifts for them Seniors. To the seniors good luck on your new chapter in life. But dont forgett that volleyball is a sport you can continue to play at what ever age you are. Strive for the best and reach for the stars for there is no one stopping you being who and what you want to be.

SJS Golf

Being the only girl golfer... actually ONLY golfer period at St. Joseph High School, I need to represent myself and my school well. Considering that the season is almost over, now would be a good time to get to my peak and start pulling some low scores. So far, Iv'e not been doing my best. My best round that Iv'e played this year was at Waimea Country Club and I shot an 87 there... not very good and I can do better. Sometimes it's hard because I'm the only golfer than doesn't belong to a team but since my grandpa is the coach I guess that helps. Although we get into a lot of conflicts with each other because he's both my grandpa and my coach. I have a private swing coach that I go to twice a week and the rest of the time I'm either practicing on the range by myself or I'm on the course with other people.
This year they're taking 10 girls from the Big Island to play at the State Championships which is held here this year at the Waikoloa Village Resort Course. So far, I'm in the top 10 but if I qualify I'm going to humbly decline it since I made the Ho'olaulea court this year and they're both taking place on the same day. I chose Ho'olaulea because it's an honor and even though golf is important to me, states is here this year and it's only my junior year for school so there's always next year to work and hard and get another spot in the top 10.
The best shot Iv'e had this year was my birdie hole at Waikoloa Village course on the 12th hole. I hit my drive, laid up with a hybrid 65 yards short of the green, and then used my sand-wedge and as soon as it hit the green it plopped itself in the hole. I was so ecstatic I did a little Tiger Woods fist pump. Iv'e had other birdies this season but that was the highlight of this year so far. It was funny because this past monday when I played at Mauna Lani, I was on the 13th hole and I had no idea my grandpa/coach as sitting in the cart behind the tree watching everyone and I made a birdie on that hole so it was a big relief for me.
Iv'e been told that I can shoot a lot lower but I need to be more positive in my mind because golf is a mental game. Since then, I've been trying my best to forget bad shots and focus hole by hole but sometimes it's hard because it's me playing against about 15 other girls. But main thing is to just have fun, try your best, and shoot a decent score.

Volleyball Update

As each day goes by our Boys Volleyball Team have been showing tremendous progress. Although we haven't won any game so far, we are happy with how far we have came. Like we all said in the beginning of the year "Lets just go out there and have fun. What do we got to lose? Play the sport and learn each given day!!!" Starting Wednesday, we are entering our second round of competition. When we first started the year we were not on the level of competing, But now with the many games that has passed by and some experience. . .We have worked our way up. We just have to competitive and aggressive. Always in platform sitting there waiting for the ball to come. When playing against division 1 teams the ball comes faster that we anticipate, its a 1 2 Kill pattern. As for when we play division 2 teams we have to always watch the ball because we don't know if the ball is going to be a 1 2 kill, 1 2 tip, or a 1 tip. Volleyball is all about keep the ball off the ground and just running your skill. but must always remember to be relaxed and ready. When nervous, knees locked up, feet cemented into the ground, and arms bent, the ball always tends to find you. To the balls volleyball team keep up the good fight.

p.s. To our managers thank you for always being there for us, supporting us, and being honest with us. Without your guys side help i don't thing we would have reached the point where we are today. We love you guys all. . .Shae, Chynna, Tiara, Kuulei, and Kiana.

Kealakehe Tournament

On Saturday March 5, 2011, we, the boys volleyball team traveled to Kealakehe to participate in their schools weekend tournament. It was held on Friday and Saturday, but we only entered on Saturdays games. Overall I feel that the we put up a good show for everyone for we played with our hearts. Although we were not able to come out with a great victory. This being our first tournament, it was a good learning experience for us, as for every game is. We finally realized that the key to Volleyball is communication. Without communication on the court and encouragement from one other we either look like coconuts colliding into each other or just nerve racked children. "Mines", "I got", "Yours", "Short" are key words to letting your teammates know who will be getting the ball. After every point and mistake its good to say a cheer like "1 2 3. . .Yayy!" or "1 2 3. . .Right back". We played three back to back games. Rest for one game and then played another two. It was a tiring day. Even though we were not able to pull through with wins, we were awarded Good Sportsmanship Trophy.

"RIGHT BACK"

This pass week our boys volleyball team had two scrimmages to get the feel of what an actual game would be like. Although we did win overall, but each set for every scrimmage we made huge improvements. On March 1 they scrimmaged against Laupahoehoe as their first scrimmage. The Seasiders team consist mostly experienced players, but that didn't intimidate us all. We tried our hardest. For our second scrimmage on March 3, it was against Christian Liberty (CLA). Although they looked like a team that is easy to beat, we struggled a little. As if we totally forgot how to play. But as the game progressed, we picked our selves off the ground. With Aldyn, been out for this whole week due to a tweaked ankle, I have been taking over his position as setter. Having no practice in setting, on our first scrimmage I just went into the game and gave it my all. Not all my balls were perfect setts, but i had many decent ones also. To tell you the truth I believe that being setter is the hardest position on the team. You have to be able to sett every pass whether good or bad. Now today we have a scrimmage against Keaau. I'm am ready for it. We all know that they aren't going to go light on us. But if we all put our heads into the game and work together as one, with communication on the court we could pull out with the WIN!!. Also on saturday we will be heading out to kona to enter in the Kealakehe tournament. It's going to be a good experience for us, as for each game we take as a learning experience help us improve on what we have done wrong. For every sport, like they say "WE ARE THE SAINTS". Just going to have fun, but not also fun with determination.