Punahou steamrolls KS-Hawaii

It was as precise as it was quick.

Surprisingly quick in many ways.

The rematch of last year’s state final was expected to be a barn-burner. Instead, top-ranked Punahou was firing on all cylinders during a 75-minute sweep of Kamehameha-Hawaii Thursday night.

Junior hitter Larry Tuileta put down a team-high 12 kills and the Buffanblu block thwarted the normally potent Evan Enriques-led Warrior attack in a 25-14, 25-22, 25-19 quarterfinal victory at McKinley HIgh’s Student Council Gym.

Defending state champion Punahou (16-2) advances to today’s 5 p.m. semifinal of the 44th New City Nissan Hawaii High School Athletic Association’s Boys Volleyball State Tournament.

The Buffanblu, seeking a 31st state crown, face Kaiser (14-3), the No. 2 team out of the Oahu Interscholastic Association. The Cougars got 20 kills from senior hitter Casey Bolda in advancing to their first state semifinal in program history.

"That was a great team we beat tonight," Punahou coach Rick Tune said. "They are probably the gutsiest team in the state. Evan (junior hitter Enriques) is obviously hurt but he would never make excuses.

"We were expecting World War II out there and we got a battle. We didn’t play our best match but they had something to do with that. We have to be better if we want to keep going. Kaiser is a very talented team."

There will be no argument from KS-Hawaii coach Guy Enriques, his 14-2 team losing for the second time in six days.

"Punahou … is … good," Enriques said. "They did things we weren’t expecting. They won the serve-receive game. They made adjustments and we didn’t.

"We don’t see jump-serves like theirs. We don’t see that kind of speed."

And likely the Warriors hadn’t seen the type of multi-faceted attack they saw Thursday night on the other side of the net.

Punahou went to a modified 6-2 (two setters) a few weeks ago. It opened up another offensive option with sophomore setter Micah Ma‘a moving to hitter during rotations that had senior Dylan Gerard in the back row.

It paid off with Ma‘a finishing with seven kills to go with 21 assists. The balanced offense included five or more kills from seven Buffanblu players, including eight kills by senior hitter Kupono Fey.

Anchoring Punahou’s block was 6-foot-8 middle Daniel Andrews, who was in on six blocks.

"I think it was a good test for us," Fey said. "The key was getting our middles going. That got us going."

The plays of the night came late in Set 3. First it was Warrior setter Shannon Kanakaole, at 5-8, with a solo stuff of the 6-3 Ma‘a, cutting the Punahou lead to 21-16.

Then it was Ma‘a barreling through his team’s sideline chairs to chase down a ball on match point that the Buffanblu were able to send back over. Enriques netted his attempt from the back row to finish the match.

Enriques, who had 30 kills in Wednesday’s win against Kalaheo, finished with 16. His brother Emmett added seven.

Today’s semifinal will make for an interesting family discussion. Kaiser coach Jon Stanley’s youngest son Wil is a freshman hitter on the Punahou roster.

"It’s going to be fun for our guys to play (Punahou)," Stanley said. "Obviously, I have a connection there."

Kaiser 3, No. 4 Baldwin 0

The Cougars had never made the state tournament until last season. They had never won a state tournament match until Wednesday’s first-round sweep of Roosevelt.

And now? "We’re still making history," senior libero Mason Ohta said after helping his team move into the semifinals. "We have something special this year and hope to keep it going."

The Cougars did so with a defense and serve-receive that deflated the Bears.

"Their passing was ridiculous," Baldwin coach Kalei Houpo said. "And it was one of our poorest passing matches of the year. We just hit a wall."

The teams matched up well in the middle with height on both sides. But it was the ability of Kaiser senior setter Riker Kasamoto to get the ball to his outsides that allowed the Cougars to continually beat the Baldwin block.

Bolda, senior hitter Daniel Fraser and senior middle Billy McGivern combined for 13 kills as Kaiser dominated Set 1. Bolda continued hit heavy hitting with eight kills each in Sets 2 and 3.

The Bears, getting 11 kills from senior hitter Ryan Garces, were poised to even the match in Set 2 when closing late at 21-19 and 22-20 on kills by senior middle Bradley Bowlin.

Bolda put down two consecutive kills, the second a bullet from behind the 3-meter line for set point. Bowlin’s third kill of the set held off the inevitable with Fraser ending it.

Set 3 was tight early with six ties, the last at 9-9. The Bears got as close as 11-9 but the Cougars never allowed Baldwin to get on a run until the Bears finally strung together three consecutive points when holding off three match points.

Kamehameha 3, Waiakea 0

Cullen Mosher had 13 kills and five aces, and Nick Ng added 11 kills as Kamehameha won 25-17, 25-20, 25-11.

Puna Kaniho dished out 36 assists for Kamehameha (16-3), which faces Moanalua in a semifinal today at 7 p.m. at the McKinley High gym.

Mamane Namahoe had 12 kills to lead third-seeded Waiakea (13-3).

Moanalua 3, Leilehua 0

Karson Cruz had nine kills and four blocks as Na Menehune swept the Mules 25-11, 25-13, 25-14.

Tahiarii Caldwell had seven kills and Austin Matautia added six for Moanalua.