The game plan was sound and the firepower was there.
Kamehameha had every intention of taking down the visiting Punahou Buffanblu, but once again, the No. 1 team in the state found a way to win.
Tai Manu-Olevao pierced Kamehameha’s stingy defense for 19 kills and Carly Kan had 12 kills in a 25-19, 20-25, 25-17, 25-21 playoff victory to capture the Interscholastic League of Honolulu girls volleyball title.
"I feel pretty good. We won an ILH championship," Buffanblu coach Peter Balding said. "I’m kind of proud of our girls. They hung in there. Kamehameha took it to us and I like the way our girls responded. Kamehameha did some good things around the middle and we had to kind of change our blocking scheme."
Every move the Warriors made was countered eventually.
"Punahou played very steady," Kamehameha coach Chris Blake said. "When you play that kind of team defense, you put pressure on the other team. We performed, but we were too inconsistent. Coach Peter’s got them doing great things. They found a way to win."
Manu-Olevao allowed herself a smile after the match.
"This feels good, but it doesn’t mean anything. It’s about states," she said, recalling last year’s top seeding in the state championships and a runner-up finish to Kamehameha.
A raucous crowd of about 1,500 at Kekuhaupio Gym, including a few hundred loud Punahou fans, saw the Buffanblu close regular-season play at 12-0. In typical fashion, the rivals played outstanding defense, leading to several entertaining rallies with Kat Brooks leading Punahou’s back row and Chelsey Keoho keying Kamehameha’s digging crew.
"They always push us. It’s Kamehameha, of course," Brooks said. "We talked about staying disciplined on defense and passing the ball, clearing out the noise."
Kamehameha ganged up on Manu-Olevao and Kan to tie the match after two sets.
Setter Tayler Higgins wisely found her targets in the middle, using a balanced approach to amass 45 assists.
"We were relying a little too much on our outside hitters, but our middles did a great job," she said.
Brittney Markwith and Claire Feeley, the 6-foot-1 middles, had seven kills each and hit a combined .286 to counter Kamehameha’s defensive scheme.
"We got a lot of good swings, but we also had some plays that were easy for (Kamehameha), so we’ll see," Balding said.
The second-ranked Warriors (9-3) used sophomore Faith Ma‘afala as a dual threat at setter and right-side hitter. While Misty Ma‘a pounded 13 kills, Ma‘afala tallied seven kills and racked up 15 assists. Alohi Robins-Hardy had seven kills and a team-high 18 assists. Pikake Laumauna had five kills in the middle, and Amanda Wasko chipped in with three kills.
In all, Punahou hit .370 and had a relatively low 10 hitting errors, including none in the opening set. Kamehameha hit .226 with 12 hitting errors. The Warriors had three aces and 12 service errors. Punahou had four aces and eight service errors.
"It comes down to execution," Blake said. "The things that they did, they’re a very disciplined team. They were in system a lot, got a lot of balls back and didn’t make a lot of errors. We made a lot of unforced errors. We executed the game plan we had in place, we just have to sustain it for every set."
Seven-time defending state champion Kamehameha will begin play in the state tourney next Wednesday, while Punahou has a first-round bye. The Warriors won the state crown last year after finishing second in league play.
