Punahou flexes its muscle

For a few months, the AVID program keiki at Washington Middle School got to see Larry Tuileta up close in the classroom.

On Tuesday, they finally got to see him from the bleachers. Tuileta drilled 12 kills as No. 1 Punahou swept No. 3 Kamehameha 25-13, 25-22 before a crowd of about 250 at Hemmeter Fieldhouse. Punahou improved to 6-0 in ILH volleyball and dropped the Warriors to 4-2.

The fans in green from Washington Middle were polite and cheerful from start to finish. Tuileta spent time mentoring at Washington as a part of a social studies class at Punahou, and he also ran a volleyball clinic for the school at nearby Boys and Girls Club of Honolulu.

"AVID is one of the programs they have that helps prepare them for high school and college," Tuileta said. "I’m glad they got to come down here and check us out. I was pretty happy during warmups, a little bit more happy than usual."

They saw a clinic of another kind as Tuileta was masterful, pounding and dinking from practically every spot and every angle. While Tuileta mixed in his roll shots and finished with an outstanding .550 hitting percentage, teammate Micah Maa was even more efficient. The setter-turned-hitter had 11 kills (.667) with one ace.

"I don’t think we played quite as well as we wanted, but there’s always opportunities to learn," Buffanblu coach Rick Tune said. "A lot of points were given, but not earned, but that’ll get better over the course of the season for both teams."

The Buffanblu finished with a team hitting percentage of .418.

Kamehameha had six of its nine hitting errors in the first set and finished with a .135 hitting percentage. The Warriors admitted they were a bit weary coming in.

"We came out really tired. We had a physical tournament at the (Hawaii Invitational) and we’re not in shape," coach Kainoa Downing said. "And Punahou’s the best in the state."

The visitors came out a bit uneven in the first set and Downing pleaded with his team to settle down. It was 10-9, Punahou, when a slew of Kamehameha mistakes three hitting errors, an overpass and a net violation fueled a 12-1 run by the home team.

Punahou got a battle in the second set. Setters Cody Wong and Elijah Hew Len found their targets, primarily Kaehu Kaaa and David Kaaa, and had an opportunity to even the match. A kill by Kaehu Kaaa gave the Warriors a 20-19 lead.

Then the miscues returned. Tuileta tied it with a spike from the right side, then Maa’s back-row swing was misplayed by the Warriors. A setting error gave Punahou a 22-20 lead. A roof by Daniel Andrews on a back-row swing by Kaehu Kaaa ended the match.