Every year, Punahou and Kamehameha are among the best boys volleyball teams in the state. This year, though, the Buffanblu are threatening to widen the gap between the two programs.

The defending Division I state champions dismantled the Warriors 25-16, 25-20 on Thursday at Kekuhaupio Gym for a second sweep of their rivals this season.

Prideful Kamehameha (7-3) isn’t about to give up the ship.

“Basically, what I always tell the guys is it’s a process,” first-year Kamehameha head coach Randy Nako said. “We’ve gotta learn how to play against Punahou. The first time we played, we did not play very well. This time, believe it or not, looking at the charts and everything, we actually played better. We’re trying to take strides to get better and that’s the only way we can get to the point where we have a chance.”

Two Punahou setters — Todd Gruebner (seven assists) and D.J. McInerny (six) — had the offense in the right gear and successfully spread the kill attempts around. Wil Stanley led the hitters with seven kills and Ethan Siegfried, Kana‘i Akana and Ryan Wilcox added five each.

Compared to the gritty second set, the first-set victory for the top-ranked Buffanblu (10-0) came with relative ease. They sprinted out to leads of 12-5 and 20-13 before Sam Bradley’s block got it to set point and Akana ended it with a kill.

After regrouping, the Warriors were resilient in the second set, which started with 10 ties until 12-all, when Punahou began to pull away.

“We made just enough runs to weather some storms tonight and then push out in front when we got the opportunity,” Buffanblu coach Rick Tune said. “(Kamehameha’s) a good team and they don’t give a whole lot of opportunities, so you have to earn whatever you get. I felt like we could have been a lot cleaner in some areas, but you can’t play your best match every night.”

Gruebner went on a 6-point service run that included an ace, two kills by Wilcox and one by Stanley to push Punahou ahead 20-13. The Warriors didn’t cave and got two kills by Naone Cannon, one by Bryson Barlan and two blocks by Kobe Young to get it to 24-20, but Stanley finished it off with one final blast.

“We have a pretty good team and we got back to basics and focused after getting a little hyped in the second set,” Stanley said. “It always happens to us; we kind of start off slow. We just have to remember to give the nice pass, have the setter be ready for it and have three options ready all the time. They (the Warriors) are a great team, and if we give them an opening, they’re going to take it.”

Cannon finished with a match-high eight kills and setter Matthew Saffery had 10 assists for Kamehameha.

“We need to work on cutting down the errors,” Saffery, a freshman, said. “And be smarter on decisions on the shots we choose. Our passing broke down, so we need to be more consistent on that and not get so anxious about it. I think we do have a chance (next time against Punahou).”

The Buffanblu play two California teams, Corona Del Mar and Mira Costa, today and Saturday at home.