Kamehameha got a little wakeup call on Saturday morning.
‘Iolani dealt the Warriors their first dropped set in the ILH season at Kamehameha in a 10 a.m. match, but the state’s top team rebounded for a 25-16, 22-25, 25-15 win over No. 4 ‘Iolani.
Alohi Robins-Hardy led the way with eight kills and Tiyana Hallums added seven in the win. Sara Watanabe and Anna Uhr led the Raiders with 11 kills each, with Watanabe collecting seven of hers in the second set.
"We expect everybody’s best match," Kamehameha coach Chris Blake said. "‘Iolani played a very good match. A lot of things we saw on tape they executed well and put us in a lot of bad spots. I’m very proud of our team the way we came back in Set 3."
The Warriors were their usual efficient selves in the first set, running out to an 18-13 lead and cruising to the finish from there with the help of successive kills by Payton Spragling. The Raiders committed nine errors to Kamehameha’s two in the set, but ‘Iolani cleaned that up in a hurry.
‘Iolani kept the same aggressive approach in the second set, but committed only four errors to match Kamehameha in miscues. So it wasn’t Kamehameha losing the set as much as it was young ‘Iolani winning it.
The Raiders took a 3-2 lead on a kill by Amnesty Dawson off a block by Robins-Hardy and never trailed. The Warriors closed to within one point, 14-13, on a rare error by Emily Sunada, but ‘Iolani responded to up it to five, 19-14, and compelling Blake to call a timeout.
The Warriors, who were facing adversity in the ILH for the first time this season, fought back to 22-20, but ‘Iolani’s Uhr and Dawson added kills to bring about aloha ball. After a net violation and a flying tip by Robins-Hardy, Dawson closed the Warriors out on a kill off a blocking error by Robins-Hardy.
"For sure, you can’t fault the effort," ‘Iolani coach Kainoa Obrey said. "The effort is there — we play to score points instead of waiting for the other team to make errors."
‘Iolani’s attacking style worked in the third set until the errors returned and Kamehameha took over with a 14-5 run, thanks to four ‘Iolani mistakes and a middle stretch dominated by Sarah Lau. The biggest difference between the second and third sets was the play of libero Mia Heirakuji and Kamehameha’s defense limiting Dawson, who dominated the second set at times, to one kill.
Heirakuji helped dominate Punahou with her defense earlier in the week and added an exceptional passing game to her arsenal.
"She really stepped up," Blake said. "Mia is always important, but she really settled down and helped us run the offense and execute the way we need to."
Kamehameha improved to 8-0 and plays Maryknoll on Tuesday, while ‘Iolani dropped to 6-3 (the three losses have come to Kamehameha twice and Punahou once) and hosts the Buffanblu on Tuesday.
