No. 2 Punahou rode the arm of McKenna Rose Granato during the first two sets.
In the decisive third set, the Buffanblu won it with a balanced attack.
Granato put down a game-high 17 kills and middle Mariah Rigg came up with two big stuffs when it mattered most as Punahou held off No. 4 ‘Iolani 25-22, 24-26, 25-20 in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu match at Hemmeter Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.
Libero Shannel Chong had 13 digs and setter Kiani Tuileta totaled 31 assists for the Buffanblu (3-1), who bounced back from a straight-set loss to Kamehameha on Saturday.
“It’s kind of nice to get the monkey off our back,” Punahou coach Tanya Fuamatu-Anderson admitted after the match. “The kids came out fired to play.”
Granato had 14 of her 17 kills in the first two sets, including eight in the first, when she hit .300.
“She’s a super good hitter and I trust her to put the ball away every time,” Tuileta said.
Granato had more kills than the rest of the team combined in the opening set, in which Punahou trailed at one point 13-8.
Hoakalei Dawson’s solo stuff gave the Raiders their largest lead before Punahou responded with a 5-1 run.
‘Iolani went back in front 18-16 on Punahou’s third service error before a 7-1 Buffanblu run helped put the set away.
‘Iolani (3-1) hit .000 in the opening set with eight kills and eight errors in 43 attempts and played without senior outside Sara Watanabe, who didn’t check in until Set 2.
“She’s been sick and Morgan (Spencer) and Reilly (Killeen) played for her and did a wonderful job — it wasn’t the fault of them,” ‘Iolani coach Kainoa Obrey said. “Sara adds a lot to the team, and just having her there, it’s kind of a safety net for the team.”
While Watanabe worked her way into the match in the second set, junior Anna Uhr had four kills and sophomore Sierra Buscher added three as ‘Iolani built a 20-15 lead.
Punahou rallied to get to a match point up 24-23, forcing Obrey to call a timeout.
The Raiders survived a free ball to tie the match at 24 and then executed a perfect triple block on Granato for a set point of their own, which Dawson put down on her second try.
Granato came up empty on her first eight swings of the third set, but the Buffanblu took advantage of six hitting errors by ‘Iolani to take a 15-8 lead.
‘Iolani made one run at 18-10 to cut it to 19-16, but the Buffanblu took it from there.
“We definitely had our opportunities for sure,” Obrey said. “With a young group, I like where we’re at — we lost and it’s not a good feeling — but I like how we’re progressing week after week and giving ourselves an opportunity to be there in the end.”
