That aura of a state championship has yet to leave the ‘Iolani campus.

Coming off a state crown in boys basketball, the Raiders got big contributions from hoopsters Zach Buscher, Ikaika Phillip and 6-foot-7 Hugh Hogland on the volleyball court in a 25-15, 25-12 sweep of Maryknoll on Wednesday.

Hogland came off the bench to lead Iolani with five kills from the left, middle and right. The freshman had a block, while teammate Skky Passi had four kills and three blocks. Buscher, the basketball team’s point guard, had 13 assists. John Lee had three kills, and Phillip, a 6-1 senior, had two kills and one block.

"Hugh makes my job easier. He puts balls away," said Buscher, a 6-3 senior. "We’ve got a bunch of returnees, so we know Coach’s system now. Coming off basketball we know what it takes to get the job done."

It was the Interscholastic League of Honolulu opener for each team, and with a change in the format, all volleyball teams are dealing with a very short preseason. The Raiders had seven practices before this match.

"We’ve got a lot of work to do. We knew nothing about Maryknoll, so we prepared our players to be resilient," coach Carl Ralitta said.

That preparation was on point. Maryknoll opened with a 5-0 lead before errors became its undoing. Iolani rallied for a 7-5 lead without a single kill, and once Hogland got rolling, the Raiders were overpowering.

Maryknoll got four kills from Lance Cadang, who was hounded by the Raiders’ block, occasionally triple-blocked in the second set. Brandon Kimura added three kills and Garrison Gabriel dished 11 assists. It was a homecoming for former Iolani standout Sean Carney, Maryknoll’s first-year head coach.

"Our goal is every game, to get better. We have the players we need. We have championship goals," said Carney, who is looking forward to his 10-year class reunion soon.

His team had huge turnover, losing "seven or eight seniors" to graduation, as well as a couple of transfers. But he wasn’t surprised with his team’s nice start against the Raiders.

"We have a good serving team. We’ve got to clean it up and get out of rotation faster," he said.

One of Maryknoll’s basketball standouts, Kaleb Gilmore, is playing volleyball for the first time in three years. Gilmore had just one kill, but looked good on his swings and serves.

‘Iolani hit .375 with just four hitting errors. There were no aces, but hardly a serving error (three), either.

Maryknoll hit .063 with 10 hitting errors. The Spartans had five serving errors.

The Raiders will get a nice, big test next weekend at the Best of the West Tournament in Poway, Calif. They depart on Wednesday. Punahou will also play in the elite event.

‘Iolani, which has a solid bench loaded with defense and good ball-control players, is probably built well for tournament play.

"The challenge is going to be ball control. We have to make sure our feet are in the right place all the time," said Ralitta, a volleyball lifer who longs for the days when boys volleyball was in the fall.

Hogland, meanwhile, is starting to get interest from colleges. He’s hearing from more volleyball programs than basketball.

"I think there are more opportunities to play volleyball in college," Hogland said.