It was a long time coming, but ‘Iolani finally has a grand reason to celebrate a major accomplishment by its girls volleyball team.
The Raiders (9-0) visited Kamehameha’s Kekuhaupio Gym on Thursday night and went home with a 25-23, 25-22 victory over the Warriors to clinch the Interscholastic League of Honolulu’s first-round title. But they netted a much bigger prize — the school’s first Division I state-tournament berth since 2007. That’s eight long years.
"It’s about time!" said Raiders senior outside hitter Sierra Buscher, who had five kills and two blocks. "We keep repeating in practice, ‘We’re never satisfied.’ We want to keep on improving, so we press each other and make each other work."
Except for some sloppiness in the early stages of the match and a small letdown near the end, the Warriors (6-3) were steady.
"We played a pretty good match," Kamehameha coach Chris Blake said. "It’s a matter of not being consistent. We can’t afford to be subpar against a team like ‘Iolani. They are so well coached and they do so many great things. A lot of it comes down to leadership, if we want to take that next step and find another gear. We got a little rattled (early), but I was happy with the way the girls fought. We were down 6 or 7 points in that first set and we found a way to come back."
‘Iolani coach Kainoa Obrey is ecstatic that his girls already have qualified for states.
"Yes, mathematically we’re in," he said, almost as if he still had more math to do to truly believe it. "That’s awesome. It’s really great for the kids and the program. They do a ton of work and they are a lot of fun to watch. We’re not done. We want the league championship."
The Raiders’ Moea Kekauoha drilled seven kills and setter Bailey Choy had 15 assists.
"Bailey betters the ball every time she touches it," Buscher said. "And her feet always get there. As the coach always says, she is a player that can do everything."
Kamehameha middle Shiloh Peleras put down 10 kills, teammate Kili Robbins added six and Kayla Afoa chipped in with five kills and two blocks, thanks in many ways to the setting of freshman Lexis Akeo, who finished with 17 assists.
In the first set, ‘Iolani took a huge 8-1 lead and Kamehameha stayed in it at 12-10, and the Warriors were still hanging in there at 21-17. When the Raiders went up 24-20, Kamehameha fought back with a Peleras kill and two Afoa blocks to make it 24-23 before Buscher finished it with a kill on a Choy set.
The second set was tied 13 times, the last at 21. ‘Iolani got it to 24-21 on a Choy block and a Kekauoha kill. Later, after a Warriors point, Kekauoha sealed the match with a kill on a Choy set.
"They (the Warriors) keep coming," Obrey said. "Chris has them playing as a team every year. We game-planned for (their middle attack) and still it was tough for us to stop it."
