Warriors keep rolling

Tiyana Hallums drilled 11 kills as top-seeded Kamehameha swept Waiakea 25-11, 25-18, 25-23 on Saturday night in the quarterfinals of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Girls Volleyball Division I State Championships.

The Warriors (16-0) used a balanced attack and superb defense to stymie the BIIF runners-up. Backup middle blocker Brooke Ka‘awa tallied six kills and Kayla Afoa and Sarah Lau had four apiece.

Waiakea had no answer for Kamehameha’s starting middle, Kealani Browne, who had six kills in nine attempts without a hitting error (.667).

"When we’re able to distribute, we can get our middles going," Kamehameha coach Chris Blake said. "Leila (Holt), Cierra (Leopoldino) and Sarah did a great job of distributing."

Waiakea (13-5) knocked off Mililani in the opening round on Friday and had the attention of Blake.

"They forced Mililani into a lot of bad plays. We managed that pretty well," he said. "Waiakea has the coaching pedigree. They turned it on after Game 3 (against Mililani).

"Our girls definitely take the first set to warm up. We came in thinking we can do something great if we play our game, no matter what," said coach Ashley Hanohano, who played under her mother, Rachelle, when St. Joseph was a BIIF dynasty about 15 years ago.

The ILH champions are also defending state champs. Seven of the past nine state title trophies belong to Kamehameha, but that doesn’t mean the road is simple. Starting setter Kamalani Akeo suffered a season-ending injury before the state tourney, leaving another senior, Holt, with the full-time responsibility.

Holt was steady all night with 35 aces, one kill and four of her team’s six aces. All four aces came in the third set, while Waiakea battled to make it tight. Kamehameha’s chemistry and experience provided an edge over the young visitors.

"Coach always says to play for each other and do our jobs, and we finished like we wanted," Holt said. "Every person has the same personality: weird and funny."

Backup middle Shiloh Pelaras had all four of her kills in the second set. Blake rotated several reserves into the match during the third set, including freshman Kili Robins (three kills), senior Payton Spragling (two) and junior Ula Kamaka (one).

Kamehameha will play Kapolei on Friday at McKinley (5 p.m.) in a semifinal match.

PUNAHOU 3, KS-HAWAII 0

McKenna Granato and Lillie Klemmer each had 11 kills as the Buffanblu beat the Warriors 25-15, 25-17, 25-15.

Punahou, which plays Moanalua in Friday’s semifinals, has not given up more than 17 points in a set in the state tournament.

KAPOLEI 3, KING KEKAULIKE 2

Shekinah Clarke put down 20 of her team’s 43 kills and the Hurricanes outlasted Na Alii.

Kapolei, which is in its first Division I state tournament, moves on to play defending state champion Kamehameha in the semifinals on Friday.

MOANALUA 3, KAHUKU 0

Jojo Kruize had 15 kills and Lia Gaogao added 14 as Na Menehune swept the Red Raiders.

Moanalua moves on to play Punahou in the semifinals.

CONSOLATION

Castle def. Nanakuli 24-26, 25-22, 15-11
Mililani def. KS-Maui 23-25, 25-23, 15-10