Hammond’s hitting propels Pearl City

If Pearl City outside hitter Joseph Hammond is a work in progress, watch out for the Chargers.

Hammond had 31 kills in four games at Campbell on Thursday night, leading Pearl City to a pair of victories in the OIA opener.

"He’s a real talented player," Pearl City head coach Stephanie Shigemasa said. "We are still working with him on control, both mentally and physically. He is one of our go-to hitters, so we are going to give him a lot of balls. He has the potential to be a really good player."

The 6-foot-4 Hammond towered over Campbell in the first match, pounding out 14 kills in a 27-25, 25-22 win. He was even better in the Chargers’ second match, picking up 17 kills in a 25-12, 27-26 win over Mililani. The Trojans won the third match 25-22, 21-25, 15-11 over Campbell.

The Chargers, who have been in every state tournament since 2005, were pushed on Friday night. They needed extra time to take care of Campbell in the first set and went to the limit in their last set against Mililani.

"I think our kids were really nervous," Shigemasa said. "I think we were fortunate in both of our games to have won. A lot of opening jitters, hopefully we will see a lot of improvement."

Hammond didn’t get his first point until midway through the first set against Campbell, but made it clear with three kills in four possessions that the Sabers’ early lead would not do. Campbell ran out to a 10-1 lead behind the serving of Jacob Ka‘awa, who had three aces during the run and kept the ball far away from Hammond.

The Chargers didn’t catch up until Campbell’s Dylan Faiesea hit long to tie it at 23. The teams traded points until Hammond followed his seventh kill of the game with an ace to end it.

Hammond earned Pearl City’s first point of the second game on a blistering kill, but lost his touch after that with two errors. The Sabers hung around despite six service errors and were within a point, 22-21, when Hammond drilled his 14th kill and Marc Suniga soared over the net for the telling blow.

Pearl City led the entire way against Mililani in the first game of the second match, jumping out with an 11-2 run and never looking back. Hammond ended that game with a crosscourt steamer for his eighth kill.

"His team relies a lot on him, and we weren’t able to shut him down, so therefore he had his way with us," Mililani coach Christian Perry said. "He got so many open looks with one block or no block. We’re in a rut right now, but we’ll pull through."

The Trojans came to play in the second game, taking their first lead of the night at 20-19 when Luke Motoyama of Pearl City went long. The Trojans led the tight contest 26-25, but Hammond unleashed a bomb for his 17th kill and took the serve for the decider. Hammond got his attempt over and the Chargers stayed unbeaten when Deshawn Duncan-Benson hit long to end the night for Mililani. Duncan-Benson led the Trojans during their comeback with four kills, but went long on six attempts.