Ann Kang Invitational Tournament

[LanaiBoy]

Just returned from the Ann Kang Invitational Tournament at Iolani High School. I wanted to check out the Kamehameha High School team, particularly Kanani Herring. The game between Kamehameha and the Iolani "B" team was not much of a match. The "B" team was composed of little smurfs and could not compete against the much taller and stronger opponent. The first game of the Moanalua High School and Kamehameha match was exciting--long rallies and spectacular defense on both sides and slam bang hitting. Kamehameha won 25 to 22. I was impressed with Moanalua"s Kaleinani Kabalis hitting last year. This year she is hitting the ball even harder and has one of the most powerful jump serves I have ever seen at the high school level. The Oxnard High School team from California in the previous match was helpless against her wicked serves. Kabalis spikes as hard or harder than Kanani Herring does. Her problem is her height, about 5''8" tall. Kanani is about 3 inches taller, jumps higher, and is faster and quicker. Elite programs won't recruit Kabalis because of her height but I predict she will do well in Division I ball nevertheless.

Kamehameha is well balanced team with other strong attackers such as Bekah Torres and Jordan Meredith so Kanani did not stand out so much. She did impress on one hit where she skied so high that she hit the ball almost straight down. By the way, I was curious to know if Herring is really 5'11" as she is listed. Looks like she is and about the same height as Kim Willoughby. Hope she has the same impact, but I doubt it. She'll be good though.

[Wolfgang]

Very entertaining report, LanaiBoy.

When do "little smurfs" of Iolani B team graduate to become bigger smurfs for the A team? When exactly does that happen in the timeline of a girl's adolescent years?

Also, I've been to Oxnard High School. I ran around the track there several days in a row when we were vacationing in the area. My dogs didn't like the place. Very clean school. Almost empty. We went during the Christmas holidays though. The street it's located along a long and wide avenue that's hardly trafficked by cars. Weird. But very clean. After that, we ate at the local Hometown Buffet.

[kalena12]

i was at the ann kang as well. kamehameha did look very impressive, especially offensively. i was there for the nightcap match between kamehameha and brentwood. the warriors played their actual starting lineup in the first game and won 25-14. something like that. then they played their second team in the final game and ended up going to a sudden death overtime after the two teams were tied with no time left. kamehameha won 24-22.

this is a big tournament for kamehameha in terms of their national ranking. they need to win the ann kang to keep their national championship hopes alive. a clash between the warriors and redondo is looking quite possible for the final.

herring will make a big impact at hawaii i think.
jordan meredith looked quite impressive offensively and so did bekah torres.

[vbuzz]

The Ann Kang Invitational Tournament is a walk in the park for Herring, who was impressive on the USA Youth national team recently. Herring and Murrey were the go-to-players for the U.S. There is no doubt she will be an impact player in college.

[Wiz]

Well, it is hard to get back into the groove of things after playing at a different level with the U.S. Youth team. She was quite impressive, and she will be the most polished prospect out of high school since Klineman. I truly believe she is the best Player out of the 2008 class. Sure wished she chosed Texas.....but I won't go into that. Herring will be an amazing player in college...without a doubt!

[luke96792]

topdog said:

Well, it is hard to get back into the groove of things after playing at a different level with the U.S. Youth team. She was quite impressive, and she will be the most polished prospect out of high school since Klineman. I truly believe she is the best Player out of the 2008 class. Sure wished she chosed Texas.....but I won't go into that. Herring will be an amazing player in college...without a doubt!

Hey Wiz.....you guys already took our Sydney Yogi from us......what more do you need? ;D

[LanaiBoy]

Kamehameha and Redondo high schools both went 8 and 0 on the first day. Looks like they are both living up to their national rankings and headed for an interesting showdown on Saturday.

[tvguy]

Not that it makes much of a difference, but Kanani did just get back from her stint with the JYNT on Sunday, so I'd imagine she'd only practiced with the Warrior team for just two days. Looking forward to a possible KS-Redondo matchup as well.

[Wiz]

luke96792 said:

Hey Wiz.....you guys already took our Sydney Yogi from us......what more do you need? ;D

I know....she's great......thanks!

Anyway, The Wahine will have an amazing player in Kenani Herring....she is a dynamic player.

[HawaiiVB]

Saw some matches tonight of the championship bracket. Kanani Herring had some awesome slams!! For a skinny thing, she can generate a lot of power. When needed, she took over the match. Punahou never really threatened Kamehameha, but was more of a pest. In the end Kanani had no equal. She is clearly above the rest. The girl can sky!!! Her vertical must be in the mid 30 inches. Some shots had her way over the block like to her torso! And her ball control is so natural and smooth.

The match between Redondo and Corona Del Mar was closer. Corona has a good middle in Kipp however she didn't have nearly enough sets. Ball control was an issue. Redondo on the other hand had great ball control. Their weapons are their outsides basically Devon Dykstra, Jessica Kalama and Megan Saraceno.

In this match Megan was the most productive, Kalama was the glue that kept the team going and Dykstra added some heat. They took game 1 and I'm guessing won out the match.

Looks as if Kamehameha will play Redondo early tomorrow with one of them going to the consolation bracket. Don't know who will win it but I think the two teams play a different type of game.

Kamehameha likes to take the point quickly with a lot of fire power, and Redondo likes to keep attacking until the other team makes a mistake.

Kanani and company seemed to be a better ball control team than Redondo but anything can happen when you're playing for the title.

Good luck to all the ladies in the tournament. Another stellar year of great talent!

[skyhigh]

Many think she is the best prospect in the country this year as a high school senior. She will be a great addition to Hawaii. She is a complete player.

[StanfordFan]

So I guess Hawaii can no longer claim that they don't get the top recruits out of a class anymore. Shoji has commented on that before, if I recall correctly.

skyhigh said:

Many think she is the best prospect in the country this year as a high school senior. She will be a great addition to Hawaii. She is a complete player.

[LanaiBoy]

Went to the Kamehameha/Punahou match. Herring was impressive as expected. I followed up with the matches between Iolani and Moanalua and Corona Del Mar and Moanalua. Both matches went three games with Moanalua losing both. I must admit that I did not think Iolani deserves its 26th national ranking. I was surprised that the coach used Kaleinani Kabalis as a setter throughout both matches, sometimes in a 6-2 formation and sometimes in a 5-1. Surprisingly, she even set in a 5-1 formation while in the front row. I thought that wasted her firepower. Perhaps setting or utility player is her future in Division I volleyball. As I said before, Kabalis hits the ball as hard or harder than Herring and has a much more powerful jump serve. Despite her height, about 5'7" or 5'8,"she got quite a few blocks, including a beautiful stuff of Iolani's middle, Chelsea Hardin. As a setter, I was impressed. She has soft hands and made lots of good sets out of poor passes. She is a good all-around player and receives and passes well too. I said earlier that she may not be recruited by elite Division I programs because of her height. Given her setting skills, I may be wrong. Then too, there is of course a question of her academic credentials of which I know nothing about. All I know is that she is a spectacular hitter.

[kalena12]

im pretty sure that kamehameha will play santa barbara tomorrow morning.

iolani is #26 but i dont think the poller knew that lauren minkel was coming off of an acl and that kelly pang is out for the season with an acl. minkel, pang, leinani keanini and chelsea hardin wouldve probably been deserving of that ranking.

herring is a great player. the difference between kamehameha and moanalua is kamehameha's got the best supporting cast by far. any one of their starters and some of their bench players could be stars anywhere else in hawaii.

[Wiz]

Was there last season, saw both Klineman and Herring in action. I wish I was there this year.