Pearl City edges Radford

Bryan Camello looked like he’d just played a volleyball match, not coached one.

The new Pearl City coach smiled a tired smile after his Chargers pulled out a 19-25, 25-23, 15-11 win over Radford at home in the Oahu Interscholastic Association West opener for both teams on Wednesday night.

"I decided I missed this, and I need this type of excitement. … I don’t know if I can do this for nine more games, but oh well," said Camello, a former Roosevelt coach who’d been away from that role for about four seasons.

"First game jitters, first game for everybody, staff, fans, everybody," he said. "I know a lot of the girls are placed into different roles. … But I think they responded well. We fought back and showed a lot of character."

Both teams had tinkered over the past three weeks of preseason matches for this moment.

Radford, of the lower-tier White Division, looked poised to spring the upset on the host Chargers of the Red. The Rams held a 20-17 lead in Game 2 after controlling the first frame handily.

The Chargers, operating a balanced two-setter offense, scored five unanswered to get back in it and soon evened things at a game apiece. Then senior hitter Kara Aiwohi put down six of her match-high 11 kills in the shortened Game 3 to send the Pearl City fans down the hill happy.

Pearl City trailed 11-10, but Aiwohi notched kills on four points during a 5-0 run to end it.

"We made sure we fought super hard so that we could get to a third set and take it," Aiwohi said. "We just had to keep focused. We couldn’t fall apart."

Senior setter Whitney Carter had four kills, a block, and an ace and combined with freshman Lexxie Enos for 23 assists for the Chargers.

Radford coach Candice Fujiwara had a bounce in her step as the Rams left the gym. It was clear she has some talent to work with.

"It’s a good starting point for us. They fought hard," she said of her team. "(It shows us) that we can compete with the best of (the West). It’s a good confidence builder for my girls because they’re in the White Division and they don’t have much of the confidence to compete against the Red teams."

Sophomore Noel Phillips had nine kills to lead the Rams.