Punahou sweeps

When the second-ranked Punahou Buffanblu felt desperate enough, they began to grovel — their word for laying it all out on defense.

Tai Manu-Olevao powered 11 kills and setter Tayler Higgins was precise with 21 assists as the Buffanblu rallied for a 26-24, 25-18 sweep of Kamehameha on Tuesday night at Hemmeter Fieldhouse.

"It’s just another game. It feels good, but it doesn’t mean anything until states, if we make it," Manu-Olevao said. "Our chemistry is really good. We grovel, we go for every ball. There’s not one ball that goes down without a body on the ground. We’re all stars, the whole team, not just one person."

Down by a wide margin in the opening set, Buffanblu coach Peter Balding implored his team to be true to its blue-collar style.

"We were just trying to get some momentum for the next game. I called my last timeout, we were down 17-11. We started groveling, getting prostrate on the floor, getting bodies on the floor and getting the ball up. Up to that point, we weren’t doing that and that’s a little out of character for us."

Misty Ma‘a, the returning Star-Advertiser player of the year, finished with nine kills to lead Kamehameha.

"I’m a little bit upset," the 6-foot-1 senior said. "We need to work a lot harder. Obviously, now we’re like the underdogs. I think we underestimated everyone. I think we didn’t have the right mind-set. We could do a lot better."

It was the Interscholastic League of Honolulu opener for both teams, a rematch of last year’s state championship final. Kamehameha, the league runner-up then, stunned previously unbeaten Punahou that night in Upcountry Maui.

"We’re where we need to be. The outcome wasn’t what we wanted, but Punahou had a great match. They came back," Kamehameha coach Chris Blake said. "We have to do a better job of shutting the door."

The seven-time defending state champion Warriors were very fluid Tuesday, rolling to leads of 9-4 and 20-13 before a spirited crowd of about 1,200.

From there, the Warriors were inconsistent and committed a litany of errors, while Punahou remained steady. Claire Feeley, a 6-1 junior, sparked the run with a block and a kill over the middle. Remo Gaogao’s ace brought the home team to 21-20.

Kamehameha still had a solid chance to put the game away after going up 23-21, but Punahou scored twice to tie it. A kill by middle blocker Haley Pa‘akaula gave the Warriors a 24-23 lead, but a service error by Pua Mo‘okini-Oliveira allowed the Buffanblu to tie the game.

Gaogao, a 5-9 sophomore, roofed Amanda Wasko, and middle blocker Brittney Markwith put the game away with a kill.

Punahou won the opening set despite hitting .052 (nine hitting errors). Scrappy defense led by libero Kat Brooks made up for the miscues.

"I don’t think it was my best game, but I really felt ­­­­that my teammates were behind me and they helped pick me up," Brooks said. "We work well together. No matter who was on the floor, we had each other’s backs."

Punahou carried that momentum into the second set, charging to a 13-5 lead. Reserve middle Pikake Laumauna sparked the Warriors in a mini-run, but they got no closer than four points the rest of the way.