The Warriors from Upcountry Maui brought their best, but Punahou swept them out anyway.
The top-seeded, unbeaten Buffanblu knocked out Kamehameha-Maui 25-14, 25-18, 25-18 Friday night in the semifinals of the HHSAA/New City Nissan Girls Volleyball State Championships. A crowd of about 500 watched at McKinley Student Council Gym.
"They’re a very good team," said junior setter Tayler Higgins, who finished with 37 assists, five digs and two aces. "They gave us a hard time. They’re super scrappy. We got good practice."
Senior Tai Manu-Olevao delivered rocket after rocket and led the Buffanblu (14-0) with 14 kills (.462). Higgins had her choice of weapons, finding middle Brittney Markwith (seven kills, .385) and outside hitter Carly Kan (six kills, .333). Libero Kat Brooks hustled for a match-high 10 digs.
Another key factor was middle Marie Rewick, who had five kills, two of her team’s six aces, and two digs.
"We have great depth at our middles, and Marie made lots of crucial plays," Higgins said.
KS-Maui (15-2), champion of the Maui Interscholastic League, hit .086 and had just two aces to Punahou’s six. Though they lost Ginger Long to graduation, the Warriors have a more balanced attack this season.
"We don’t play teams like this on Maui. They give us so many different looks," Warriors coach Bala Spencer said. "We needed to adjust with our passing. Our girls didn’t make those adjustments until the third set. They bring it heavy, every rotation."
Coach Peter Balding’s Buffanblu hit .348 and had just one hitting error in the opening set. KS-Maui fell behind 8-0 and trailed by as many as 10.
KS-Maui got no closer than four the rest of the way.
In game 3, the Warriors sustained their momentum deeper into the battle, taking a 16-11 lead on a kill by Sienna Davis (seven kills). But Punahou’s power and finesse were too difficult to stop. The Buffanblu scored the next 12 points and won going away.
Sheylin Patao and Leimana Kane added five kills for KS-Maui. Kalama had 22 assists and Anuhea Kaiaokamalie had eight digs.
It’s a very similar route to the state final for Punahou, which won the Interscholastic League of Honolulu last season, was seeded first in the state tourney, then lost to Kamehameha in the final on Maui.
"We just got to prepare mentally for tomorrow," Higgins said. "There’s nothing we can do physically."
