Castle eliminates Aiea in OIA playoffs

The Castle Knights are in the title chase.

Sophomore Qaira Tuaalii-Puahi hammered 10 kills, Kuulei Lynch had nine and Joshell Lilio added eight as Castle swept Aiea 25-21, 25-13, 25-22 Thursday night in the opening round of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red girls volleyball playoffs at Campbell’s gym.

"I’m really satisfied on how they performed tonight," Castle coach Grant Tolentino said in a phone interview. "If anything I’d like us to work harder on our defense."

Castle (9-3) also got six kills from Qaire Tuaalii-Puahi, Qaira’s twin sister, and a combined 50 assists from setters Kiana Tilton and Brandy Smith. The Knights advanced to the double-elimination rounds of the tourney and will meet the West’s top seed, Mililani, on Tuesday.

Aiea’s season came to an end. The young Na Alii finished 6-5, losing in the playoffs against Castle for a second year in a row.

"They were heartbroken. There’s nothing you can tell them," Aiea coach Erin Okamoto-Coker said of her team. "They played their best. As long as they play their best, that’s all a coach can ask. We just couldn’t get going, and by the time we did get going, it was too late."

Tolentino’s squad nearly lost momentum in the third set, when Aiea seemed to be on the verge of a comeback.

"I give props to Erin, she does a great job with their program. They came out swinging and served us real hard tonight," he said. "I’m real proud of my girls, how they handled the hard serve. Whether it’s a hit or free ball, we just need to control the ball."

Aiea, with freshman and sophomore starters, got solid contributions from Taylor Fetui and Ka‘ala Leopoldo. Freshman Taylor Noga and sophomores Roina Ma‘afala and Megan Ma‘afala-Maiava also helped Na Alii stay close. It was an unusual turn of events for Aiea, which was 5-0 on the road in OIA play until yesterday.

"Our girls were all off," Okamoto-Coker said. "The intensity level wasn’t there today."

Okamoto-Coker added some observations about the match.

"It was dark in there. Some of the lights weren’t working. We had to use their (Castle’s) volleyballs. They have maroon volleyballs and we didn’t want to play with those. We could’ve used white volleyballs," she said. "But that’s not why we lost, it’s not an excuse."

Castle is looking forward to the match with the unbeaten Trojans of Mililani. The teams split two games in pool play at Kamehameha’s preseason tournament.

"It should be an interesting game," Tolentino said.