Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Enjoy this free story!
Moanalua lost nearly all of its starters from last year’s OIA championship team.
Na Menehune are still adjusting and tweaking their starting lineup. But the firepower remains in Austin Matautia, who buried 10 kills to help Moanalua sweep Farrington 25-10, 25-12 in an OIA East boys volleyball match on Wednesday.
Host Na Menehune improved to 2-0 after the opening week of league play while the Governors are 1-1.
“They’re adjusting well, they’re learning fast and the way we’re going, I feel we’ll have a good season,” Matautia, last year’s OIA East player of the year, said of the new faces on the team.
Na Menehune graduated four hitters and a libero from last year’s starting lineup. Matautia remains at outside hitter while Karson Cruz has moved from middle to opposite as the team shuffles players around due to injuries. Instead of using one setter like previous seasons, Na Menehune are utilizing two setters in Zach Kagehiro and Noah Marasco-Ayau, who combined for 21 assists in the win.
“We’re still trying to figure things out, we’re still trying to put people in the right spots,” said Moanalua coach Alan Cabanting.
Matautia had nine kills and an ace as Na Menehune led comfortably throughout Set 1. Parker Lui had all four of his aces in Set 2, including three midway through that helped Na Menehune pull away. Seyj Engleman finished with five kills in the win.
“Today, we wanted to focus on our side,” Matautia said. “We didn’t want to make too many mistakes, make sure Farrington doesn’t score too many points.”
An athletic but inexperienced Farrington squad had a hard time keeping up with Moanalua. Jacob Yaplag had three kills for the Governors.
“He just finds ways to win and score points,” Farrington coach Reagan Agena said of Matautia. “They’re so skilled, it was pretty difficult for us. If we just be aggressive, it’ll give ourselves some opportunities.”
Communication will be a continual focus throughout the season. Cabanting pointed out there were several dropped balls that could cost pivotal points in big matches. But with the mix of returnees and new faces, Na Menehune have worked well together thus far.
“We’re more efficient and we have a better bond with each other,” said Cruz, who finished with three blocks. “The chemistry is going well, everybody likes each other, everybody enjoys each other and we’re having fun together.”
Cabanting said its a learning experience for everyone. He’s pleased that his returnees have stepped up to take leadership of the squad.
“They know that it’s a brand new team, its an inexperienced team,” Cabanting said. “They’re coming together as a team a lot more often. It’s a great thing that I don’t have to work on that, they’re already working on their own.
“It’s bringing the new guys up to speed on their responsibilities on the team. The team chemistry portion, it’s taking care of itself. The leaders are stepping up to take care of that.”
OIA
Tuesday
Varsity
Waipahu def. Kapolei 25-22, 23-25, 16-14
Junior varsity
Kapolei def. Waipahu 21-12, 18-21, 15-10
Wednesday
Varsity boys
Kaiser def. Kailua 25-18, 25-23
Radford def. Nanakuli 27-25, 25-19
Kalaheo def. Roosevelt 25-18, 26-24
Kahuku def. Kaimuki 25-11, 25-13
McKinley def. Anuenue 25-11, 25-18
Junior varsity boys
Kailua def. Kaiser 21-8, 21-12
Roosevelt def. Kalaheo 21-13, 21-18
80
JAY METZGER