Lanakila Volleyball Academy, 2012-13

Be sure to click on each item title to see the full schedule details,
including complete practice time and venue.

Monday morning 5/20 update:

18U Girls with Coach Gimi have practice tonight, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. @ KS Gym.

Also, on Wednesday 5/22:
14U Boys, 14U Girls and 16U Girls open gym
(for LVA players only), KS Gym 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

That's it for practices this week.

Fr. Team Mom Kathy Kanemitsu—a photo of the 14U Girls from the Hilo regionals:

Hauoli la hanau ia oe to
LVA Director Darlene Ane!!!

...her birthday was yesterday! Thank you for all you do for LVA. God's blessings on your special day. May your day be filled with all that you wish and hope for.
~ from the LVA Board of Directors

Also sending out Get Well prayers to "Tutts" Vicens,
Papa Chubby's (LVA VP) wife. Praying for her complete and quick recovery.
~ from the LVA Ohana

PRACTICE UPDATES:

18U Girls—no practice for week of April 22-27.
14U Boys—Fri. practice moved to Thurs. 4/25, in Pa'ia gym.
16U Girls—CANCELLED Mon. 4/22 only
14U Girls—Mon. 4/22 practice MOVED to Seabury Hall gym.

2013 Girls Junior Regional Tournament in Hilo, HI
(Moku O Keawe Region)

Results for Day 2—Sat. Apr. 20, 2013

18U Girls
Game 3: vs. Cuzzins— 23-25, 25-20, 13-15    LOSS

16U Girls
Game 3: vs. Ho'opa— 8-25, 15-25    LOSS

Results for Day 1—Fri. Apr. 19, 2013

18U Girls
Game 2: vs. Pili Pa'a White— 25-16, 25-16    WIN!!
Game 1: vs. HI-Intensity White— 25-14, 25-11    WIN!!

16U Girls
Game 2: vs. Mana'o— 25-8, 25-16    WIN!!
Game 1: vs. Pa'ani Pono— 25-13, 22-25    TIE

14U Girls
[ no results to report yet; stand by for update ]

Congratulations to U'i Kepani, full-ride scholarship to Ashford University,
and to Sienna Davis, full-ride scholarship to University of Hawaii, Hilo.

Hauoli la hanau ia oe
Gimi Thibodeaux!!!

...to a wonderful person, from your LVA Ohana—
we are all truly blessed to have you in our lives and community.
May you continue to be surrounded with warmth and aloha today
and for all days to come.

Photo from Dawna Davis, via text to Lloyd:
"A surprise birthday gathering for Coach Gimi. Her 18s came from as far as Hana & Lahaina. Her immediate family; Papa Chubby and family; all here at Outback Steakhouse celebrating this very special lady. Love her!"

Text message from Coach Gimi:

"LVA's 14U Boys won 2nd Place, with Aloali'i Laga selected as Most Outstanding 14U Boys player. 18U Girls won 1st Place, with Paka and Ui two of six All-Stars selected for our division, in which Sienna was selected Most Outstanding.
Coach Isaac Most Outstanding in Men's Open division!! LVA sweeps! :-)"

A blessed, happy Easter to the LVA Ohana and friends.
See you at practice next week! (April calendar already posted;
click on Next or Forward button on calendar to move to April postings.)

Text message from Coach Gimi:

"ALL-Stars from LVA, picked by Haili coaches--Paka and U'i, with Sienna selected Most Outstanding Player. Congratulations to all my girls!!"

18U Girls Win Haili Tournament Women's "B" Division
Congratulations, LVA Wahine!!

18U Girls Results:

Game 5 (Sat. 3/30): (CHAMPIONSHIP) ... vs. All Out (Oahu)— 25-17, 25-22    WIN!!
Game 4 (Fri. 3/29): (Single Elimination) ... vs. Natives— 25-16, 25-18    WIN!!
Game 3 (Fri. 3/29): LVA 18U Girls vs. Pa'a Pono— 25-11, 25-12    WIN!!
Game 2 (Wed. 3/27): LVA 18U Girls vs. Keaukaha— 27-29, 25-17    TIE
Game 1 (Wed. 3/27): LVA 18U Girls vs. All Attitude Kapili— 25-9, 25-8    WIN!!

[ Charming pic of the girls waiting at Kahului airport this morning. ]

LVA's 18U Girls play tonight at the Haili Volleyball Tournament.
First game at 7:40, then another one after that.

18U Girls shoutout to our 14U Boys: Bring it home, boys!!

Wednesday evening (3/27) results:

Championship:
LVA 14U Boys vs. Southside— 11-25, 21-25   LOSS   2nd place!

Tuesday evening (3/26) results:

Game 2: LVA 14U Boys vs. Miloli'i— 25-20, 25-8   WIN!!
Game 1: LVA 14U Boys vs. Halah— 25-17, 25-17   WIN!!

(Not all boys on island; missing: Pono Murray, Haweo Johnson and Nakulu Morando.)

Coach Gimi's Post-Tournament Mana'o
Wed., Feb. 20
LVA's 18U Girls was ranked 188th going into this tournament. At the end of the tournament, our girls were able to push to 20th place out of 244 teams.

Going into any tournament in the mainland, we never take any teams lightly, we respect the league and all its clubs. We faced some teams that were much taller than us and also very skilled, but we just stepped up and played ball the way we know how, with heart, determination and confidence. And it showed—my seniors and returnees were solid!

Seniors:

KS Sienna Davis (OH-S)

HHS Pakalana Helekahi-Cass (OH)

KS Leimana Kane (MB)

KKHS U'i Kepani(libero)

KKHS Kayla Uyesugi (DS)

MHS Ku'ulei Wasserman (OH)

Juniors/Sophomore:

Jr. BHS Olivia Wallace (OH-MB)

Soph. BHS Gabby Cordoba (OH)

Jr. KS Emma Yen (OH)

And our new additions blended good:

Senior LHS (MB) Trisha Kama

Junior KS (DS) Neula Aarona

Freshman KS (S) Danielle Brown

Freshman SH (DS) Emma Pilotin

My G18 team, Coach Bubba and I set our goals high, and we landed on Silver A-2nd place. There was absolutely no disappointment or regrets. We went "all in" and played strong and tight till the end.

I am very proud of my team, my parents, and the extended family and friends that we had the pleasure of meeting for the first time and all their support, positive cheering, goodies, leis and musubis that the girls could finally enjoy when the tournament was over. We definitely had it going on, at our sidelines. It was EPIC!

My deepest appreciation goes to my chaperones Dawna and Henry Davis. My girls are ever so blessed to have a second mom and dad there for them always to keep them in top shape! For 3 years now these 2 unselfish parents have not just taken care of our players at tournaments, but they have taken their vacation time to do so; and spending their personal money to care of the team, asking nothing in return.

So in short, we—team: players and coaches—dedicate our wins to all the beautiful people who believe in us, our vision, and LVA's mission statement. The losses... well, let's just say we have come home to regroup and attack harder and smarter for the next tournament. :-)

Mahalo to Kris, our team mom; to Kauko our team treasurer; to Dawna for helping with travel plans. They were all instrumental in making sure everything was prepared prior to travel.

God's blessings to all,
Coaches Gimi and Bubba

LVA's 18U Girls just concluded a successful trip to the 2013 Las Vegas Senior Showcase tournament, and did the LVA community/ohana very proud—awesome job, team!
(Click on each image below to view larger version.)

From Kris, re one of the pics above: The Big Island team and LVA were the last two teams playing in the gym. They came to support and cheer for Maui/Hawaii!!

Site webmaster commentary, from Lloyd:
"LVA 18U really made us proud! Those of us who couldn't make the Las Vegas trip sat on pins and needles waiting for Kris' frequent text message updates, and were cheering from thousands of miles away. :-) LVA had the best performance of the clubs from Maui, making the top 20—Hawaiian Style 18s were in 80th place, Maui Volleyball Club was in 99th place, and Hawaiian Style 17s were 59th in the 17 Club division. Congratulations to our sister clubs... Maui no ka oi!"

Mon., Feb. 18—Results from Las Vegas:

Game 8: LVA vs. Rancho Valley (Southern Cal.) — 25-21, 23-25, 15-12   WIN!!
The girls are playing in the Silver-A bracket today. With this win,
LVA achieves Top-20 (out of 244 teams) in the tournament... an awesome result!
Game 9: LVA vs. Temecula Elite Abbey (Southern Cal.) — 25-23, 25-20   WIN!!!
Game 10: LVA vs. Pocatello Elite (Inter-Mountain) — 24-26, 18-25   LOSS

From Kris:
"The pule before our game. Mahalo ke Akua!"
(Before Game 10:) "Other team got height and lets nothing touch the ground—
this will be a battle. But we're fighters, so BRING IT!!"
(After Game 10:) "LVA 18U Girls placed 2nd in Silver Division—overall, 20th out of 288 teams... AWESOME!!

Sun., Feb. 17—Results:

Game 4: LVA vs. Rain City Mirage (Puget Sound) — 25-11, 25-21   WIN!
Game 5: LVA vs. Xtreme Red (North Carolina) — 25-12, 25-23   WIN!!
Game 6: LVA vs. Bakersfield (Southern Cal.) — 25-21, 31-29   WIN!!!
Game 7: LVA vs. Westside Warriors (Southern Cal.) — 21-25, 21-25   LOSS

Text msg. from Kris Kepani (Chaperone):
"Game 6, Set 2: 31-29—HOLY COW!! A come-from-behind win! End result:
LANAKILA WELL-FORMED BLOCK... YEAH BABY! Sienna and Tricia blocked for the last
(aloha ball) point. AWESOME TEAMWORK... had to be there!!!"

Sat., Feb. 16—Results:

Game 1: LVA vs. Sudden Impact (Rocky Mt.) — 25-20, 25-19   WIN!
Game 2: LVA vs. Adrenaline (N. Carolina) — 25-15, 25-14   WIN!
Game 3: LVA vs. Fusion (Texas) — 25-13, 25-22   WIN!

Text msg. from Kris Kepani (Chaperone):
"Okay LVA Ohana... we're done for the day. We are first in our pool—girls did AWESOME!
They're hungry for the wins! Later today we will find out times of play for tomorrow.
Our cheering squad was OFF THE HOOK! Our last game was crowded with other players,
teams and coaches watching... WAY TO REPRESENT!"

IMUA LANAKILA!

18U Girls leaving for the Las Vegas Senior Showcase,
late on Wed. evening, from the Kahului airport.
Good luck ladies—play hard... have fun... represent...!!

~ from your LVA Ohana

There have been a few new additions and updates to the practice schedule for the rest of February. Please check the calendar for details.

Also, a reminder from Coach Gimi:

"Please be sure to click on the calendar links on the day of practice to find out at which gym practice is going to take place—we will be experiencing last-minute shifting. Sorry for the inconvenience!"

Click on a name below (or thumbnail pic above) to see video interviews with each of our seniors from the 18U Girls team:

Isaac Kneubuhl is a local-born athlete who began his volleyball career on the beaches of Maui at the early age of four. Under the tutelage of Coach Gimi and Coach Bubba Thibodeaux, he was introduced to the indoor game as a member of the Kalama Intermediate School boy's team and also played for Lanakila Boys Club and coached by the Thibodeauxs as well.

He then went on to attend Kamehameha School (Kapalama campus on Oahu), continuing his indoor career under Coach Pono Ma'a, Mike Among, and the boy's varsity squad as an outside hitter.

[ Continued on the Coaches page... ]