Moanalua handed Farrington a rude welcome to Division I with a 25-16, 27-25 win over the 2012 OIA White champions on Tuesday.

The No. 9 Governors (2-1) outblocked Na Menehune 7-1 and didn’t commit a service error throughout the match, but No. 6 Moanalua’s hitters found their way around and through the block with 35 kills. Farrington managed 14 kills for the match.

Both teams struggled with messy play in Set 1, but Na Menehune’s solid passing kept them in the game. Moanalua (3-0) racked up 15 digs in the first set, compared to Farrington’s nine.

"Our game plan was to stay calm. We have some really good defensive players, but they get a little bit antsy and want to dig everything and sometimes move out of position," Moanalua coach Tommy Lake said. "The calmer they were, the better we played defense."

Na Menehune kept their cool with the score tied at 7, but started to pull away with an ace by setter Shaylah Kagehiro and a momentum-changing block by sophomore Arendia Ruiter.

The Governors couldn’t find their offensive rhythm and didn’t score its first kill until Skyler Taumua’s slam at 16-11. But by then, Moanalua sophomore Johanna Kruize found her groove.

The 5-foot-10 middle blocker made her season debut on the left side and proved that she could handle the position, putting down eight of her 12 kills in the first set. Kruize mixed her shots down the line, cross court, off-speed and off the block, scoring Na Menehune’s last five points to end the game.

"We kind of got lucky in that first set that we had that good run, but we knew that wouldn’t last and the second set would be tight," Lake said.

"Jo Jo (Johanna) actually played middle for us last week, but she has such a strong arm and can hit the out-of-system ball pretty good, so we moved her to outside for today and she proved that she’s really good," Lake said.

The Governors bounced back in a tightly contested second set that was tied eight times. Kruize cooled off, but Moanalua junior Lia Gaogao stepped up with four kills in the set.

Moanalua appeared to have the match wrapped up at 13-8, but a step-out kill by Penina Faumui and two Na Menehune hitting errors brought the Governors back within two. Farrington trailed at 18-17, but stole the momentum with Savanah Kahakai’s line-drive kill off Kagehiro.

Farrington head coach Reagan Agena called a timeout at 22-19 and the Governors responded with a 4-1 run, capped off with Faumui’s ace to tie the game at 23-23. Kruize’s 11th kill gave Na Menehune game ball, but Farrington fended off the threat with a kill by middle Jeneva Toilolo.

A Moanalua hitting error gave the Governors the edge, but Na Menehune finished them off with three straight kills.

Kahakai led Farrington with seven kills and six digs.

Gaogao finished with a match-high 14 kills and three digs.