Maryknoll raised its game in its home gym to take on Interscholastic League of Honolulu volleyball powerhouse Punahou.

The seventh-ranked Spartans just couldn’t elevate quite high enough.

Missed opportunities came back to bite the hosts, as the top-ranked Buffanblu prevailed 25-11, 22-25, 27-25, 26-24 at Maryknoll’s Clarence T.C. Ching Gymnasium on Thursday night.

An errant point here and there separated a surprisingly compelling battle from a huge upset, and ILH first-round champion Punahou (11-0) remained unbeaten to start the second round of league play.

"We’re fortunate to come out of here with a victory," Punahou coach Rick Tune said. "We have a really young team, and sometimes young teams have to learn hard lessons. And one of the lessons that I hope we learned tonight is that anything’s possible in another team’s gym. Once a team catches fire in their home gym, they can play at a higher level than you ever imagined them playing. We hadn’t seen Maryknoll play at this level, but we always knew they were capable of it."

Freshman setter Micah Ma‘a spread around 51 assists, and six Buffanblu players had six or more kills to narrowly outplay the upstart Spartans.

After evening the match at a set apiece, Maryknoll went on a 6-1 run to go up 22-20 in the all-important Set 3. But after taking a 23-21 lead, Maryknoll couldn’t conjure up the magic to claim another frame. Punahou’s Griffin Bolan (six kills) came up with a big block to end Set 3 in extra points.

"Major props to Maryknoll. They came out firing in that second set," said Bolan, whom Tune praised for keeping the team positive throughout. "They kind of caught us unawares and gave us a great game."

Junior hammer Tufanua Iuvale nailed a game-high 14 kills for Maryknoll (4-7), which still hopes to gain the ILH’s second state tournament berth with a top-two finish in the league’s second round.

Even with the shift to the best-of-five format for this part of the season, Maryknoll couldn’t be worn down. But it also couldn’t capitalize on leads of 20-17 and 24-22 in Game 4, as Punahou’s Tui Tuileta (14 kills) and consecutive Spartans hitting errors helped rally the Buffanblu back to score the final four points.

"I think this is the first time we’ve had a volleyball team that believed they can do it," Spartans coach Shawn Doo said. "We told the boys we’re proud of the way they played, but don’t accept … that we don’t have to work hard for the rest of the league."