Vega leads No. 5 ‘Iolani past No. 8 Maryknoll

Gabriel Vega pounded 12 of his match-high 14 kills in the second game as No. 5 ‘Iolani outlasted No. 8 Maryknoll 25-16, 35-33 Tuesday night at the Raiders’ gym.

‘Iolani improved to 2-1 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu despite an uneven performance in coach Mike Among’s eyes.

"In a word, that second game was sloppy," the former University of Hawaii player said.

Some of that had to do with a scrappy Maryknoll squad that didn’t quite match up to the home team at the net. ‘Iolani had five blocks, including two by Vega and two by Kea Perkins to Maryknoll’s two.

But the Raiders had ups and downs with ball control, particularly in the second set, allowing the visitors to rally for a 24-23 lead on Austin Gaskins’ kill on an overpass.

Vega had six kills from that point as the two sides endured six lead changes.

"Gabo wanted the ball. Everybody in the gym knew where it was going and he came through for us," Among said of Vega.

Five times, Maryknoll had game point and the serve, only to get stung by the Raiders. Tied at 33-all, the young Spartans committed their only rotation violation of the match. The 6-foot-7 Vega than powered a serve deep to the right corner for an ace to give ‘Iolani the win.

"I’ve been preaching that we need patience," Among said. "I like to pride my teams on ball-handling and it wasn’t as precise as it could’ve been today, especially with free balls coming over. We definitely need to get back in the gym and work on it."

Maryknoll dropped to 1-2 in league play.

"I feel disappointed with the loss, but I feel good about the way we battled back," Spartans coach Shawn Doo said. "We started out very anxious, but in the second game, we kept our composure. The mistakes were at a minimum and it was a good battle."

Duke Pauli, a 6-3 senior playing varsity volleyball for the first time, had seven kills. Zach Buscher (16 assists) and Kyle Kekina (11 assists) alternated at setter. Alden Wong and Micah Goshi anchored the back row.

"Alden played well and Goshi did a good job," Among said. "He does the quiet things that you don’t really notice along with his net play."

Goshi chipped in four kills and Preston Kamada tallied three.

The Raiders had 10 hitting errors (.292) and made things easier by drilling seven aces. They also had 10 service errors.

Junior middle Nua Iuvale led Maryknoll with nine kills and two blocks. Setter Skylan Engleman, a sophomore, had 16 assists and two kills. Gaskins finished with four kills and Gabriel Shimizu chipped in three.

"We didn’t allow them to get big runs," Doo said. "Our defense, we’re so young, our guys are missing their assignments. They’ll see it in the film. Gabo will get his kills, but if our boys get in the right positions, we have a chance of getting touches."

The Spartans had 11 hitting errors (.164) and finished with two aces and three service errors. They have a savvy weapon in the middle with Iuvale, one of several Spartans who played in two Junior Olympics tournaments.

"(Iuvale) focused on volleyball this year and it paid off," Doo said. "He’s definitely taken the leadership role. Our two captains are juniors."