Powerhouse Punahou pulls away to topple ‘Iolani in volleyball

In the midst of a struggle between Punahou and ‘Iolani, the guru of Buffanblu volleyball asked for a simple thing from his team.

“I told them during a timeout, we need to stop playing like we’re supposed to beat them by 20 points,” Rick Tune said.

The Buffanblu responded, breaking out for a 25-17, 25-18 victory over the Raiders in a pivotal ILH boys volleyball clash at Hemmeter Fieldhouse. Kana‘i Akana pounded 11 kills and Ryan Wilcox added eight to power Punahou, now the only unbeaten team in league play at 3-0. The Buffanblu are six-time defending state champions.

Ryan Van Cantfort had six kills, Kawika Lee tallied five and Ethan Wescott chipped in four for ‘Iolani, which dropped to 3-1. Shane Harimoto delivered 16 assists.

“In matches like this, we learn the most. This gives us a good list to work on and a lot of good motivation,” Raiders coach Jordan Inafuku said.

Akana and many of his teammates actually play in the offseason for Spike N’ Serve, a club coached by Inafuku.

“It’s a disadvantage for us,” Akana said. “You can see him making blocking adjustments.”

The opening set was tight most of the way, with the score tied nine times and four lead changes. The Raiders went to Wescott on the right side twice for kills to keep it close. After Lee’s kill, the game was tied at 16.

Punahou then went on a 9-2 run to close the set. Middle Claudio Clini picked up his first kill and Wilcox finessed a point over the left side. Then came a barrage with two kills by Akana, including one that was a 180-degree leap on the right side, plus a kill by Kawai Hong and an ace by Wilcox. A couple of ‘Iolani hitting errors were part of the mix, and then Akana’s right-side kill ended the first set.

The visiting Raiders led the second set 3-1, but didn’t sustain it. Punahou setter Jameson McKibbin (26 assists, three kills, one ace) was on point all match long. The Buffanblu went on a 15-9 run, taking advantage of two hitting errors, and Wilcox brought a kill from the back row as his team went ahead 16-12.

Cole Hogland hustled for three blocks in the second set, but the Raiders got no closer than five points the rest of the way.

“We were ready,” Hogland said. “When they got on that run in the first game, that was rough, but we did pretty good.”

The numbers support Hogland’s stance. Punahou managed to get just three aces, matching ‘Iolani.

“We handled their serve,” Inafuku said. “So that gives us confidence going forward.”

Punahou was highly efficient in return, hitting .458 with just three hitting errors.

“What I like most about this match is they made adjustments when we asked for them,” Tune said. “Now we’ve got to get ready for a great HBA team (on Thursday).”

‘Iolani will host Mid-Pacific on Thursday.