Guerreiro Is Back With A Vengeance In Mustang Volleyball
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usJust in case Jowell Guerreiro should forget her role, Kalaheo coach Roberta Downey is always there to remind her.
“She tells me every day to be a leader,” says Guerreiro. “I’m not usually talkative on the court, but this year I’m trying to get my voice out.”
And trying to make up for lost time. Guerreiro, who has been a seemingly permanent fixture in the program since moving up from the JV late in her 2007 freshman season, missed all of last year when she tore her ACL.
“It was devastating, actually,” she said. “I’d never been hurt before, but I realized I had one more year and I was going to play with all my heart.”
She’s come back with a stellar senior year as planned and is one of the catalysts for the team, which had won 13 of its 15 matches heading into last Wednesday’s OIA White championship-round playoff with Leilehua. While athleticism is her greatest ally on a volleyball court, the leader in Guerreiro also had to be effective as Kalaheo was defeated a night earlier by Roosevelt, ending a 12-game win streak. (A win over Leilehua would have placed them in the DII title game and a rematch with Roosevelt).
Even so, Kalaheo has already assured itself a berth in the Division II state volleyball tourney, which runs Wednesday to Saturday. (Pairings for it were to be announced late Sunday.)
“We’re very excited,” she said. “We can’t wait to play the other teams from the ILH and other leagues.”
They were eager to play only one day after their loss to Roosevelt. Indeed, only in the playoffs are OIA teams generally able to play games on back-to-back nights.
“It’s better to play right after (a defeat). You feel like you need redemption,” she said. “You just want to win. It’s depressing losing to them (Roosevelt) twice, but we’ll bounce back and try our hardest to keep going.”
While the team hasn’t known adversity for some time, going 12 games without losing, they are a cohesive bunch, equipped for the ebb and flow of a season, according to Guerreiro. “We jelled right away. We play with all of our hearts. We trust each other, and we play together.”
Team unity also means good communication on the court, which is an enduring theme as they prepare for this week’s state tournament.
“We definitely have to minimize our errors and talk to each other. Everything will go smoothly if we do that.”
Because of her ACL injury, Guerreiro spent her 2010 summer rehabbing, mostly. The Mustangs had a good season in 2009 in her absence, but a first-round loss in the OIA Tournament eliminated them from contention for one of the league’s state tournament berths.
“It was pretty difficult to come back,” she said. “I was out of shape - I had to work on muscles that hadn’t been used since surgery - but I’m back now.”
The youngest of three children, Guerreiro has played volleyball “my whole life,” she said. “It’s in my blood.”
Parents Joseph and Prandi are among her greatest supporters, and her uncle Pedro Velasco is the Roosevelt coach, ironically. Jowell plays for him in the Lokahi Volleyball Club during the off-season.
The tournament action is at Farrington and McKinley high schools and shifts to Stan Sheriff Center Saturday for the championship round. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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