The Enriques Army would not fold up the tent. Instead, it dug deep around it.
Kamehameha-Hawaii stared down elimination at the hands of Moanalua, only to rally back for a stunning 24-26, 25-23, 18-25, 25-23, 16- 14 semifinal victory in the New City Nissan/HHSAA Boys Volleyball State Championships on Friday at McKinley High.
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DIVISION I
Saturday
At Blaisdell Arena
Third place
Moanalua vs. King Kekaulike, 3 p.m.
Championship
KS-Hawaii vs. Punahou, 7 p.m.
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Senior Evan Enriques pounded 40 kills against 13 errors in 104 attempts to lead the comeback charge. The Warriors will face top-seeded Punahou for the state championship at 7 p.m. Saturday at Blaisdell Arena. The Buffanblu, who swept King Kekaulike in Friday’s first semifinal, have won four of the past five titles.
The Warriors lost in five to the Buffanblu for the 2012 championship. Getting a chance at head-to-head redemption — this time with four sons at the command of coach Guy Enriques — nearly wasn’t to be.
The BIIF champions trailed 20-14 in Game 4, then staged their improbable comeback. They scored five straight and drew even with Na Menehune at 22.
Moanalua went up 23-22 — two points away from a rare OIA appearance in the state final in this sport — but yielded three straight points to send the match to a fifth set.
"It was pretty frustrating, I’m not gonna lie," Evan Enriques said. "It’s hard to think of the outcome in that situation (down six late). But I’m proud of the team for staying steady. When you stay steady, it allows the other team to make mistakes."
In the fifth, the Warriors were just a shade better; it was knotted at 14-all when Moanalua made a service error then hit into the net in the deciding point. Na Menehune crumpled to the floor while Warriors dog-piled.
Players and coaches from both teams walked around in a daze.
"I’m just relieved for right now, but so proud of the boys for digging in deep," Guy Enriques said. "They dug very, very deep, stuck with each other, we had some breakdowns but nobody gave up on each other."
Evan Enriques added 16 digs and five aces. Emmett Enriques, a junior, had 17 digs, and freshmen Avery and Addison Enriques combined for 46 assists.
Moanalua, bristling with weaponry at every spot on the floor, was a worthy OIA champion. Senior setter Skylan Engleman spread out 55 assists and had 12 digs. His favorite targets were Luuga Vailuu (18 kills) and Austin Matautia (17).
"I’m really proud of these boys," Moanalua coach Alan Cabanting said. "We did everything we needed to do to fight.
"When you’re playing against a whole family, they just are able to read each other and understand each other."
Moanalua seized the opening set by coming back from a Warriors game point at 24-23 and scoring three straight points. Matautia put down a kill after a teammate’s great pancake save and finished off the set with a blast off the KSH block.
Kamehameha got even in Game 2 despite squandering a six-point lead and allowing Na Menehune to tie it up at 23. Alapaki Iaea and Emmett Enriques combined on a stuff of Matautia to square the match.
Moanalua upped its intensity markedly in the third set, while Kamehameha’s execution waned. Na Menehune led 8-2 and 17-8 and was largely content to sideout the rest of the way to take a 2-1 set lead. Luuga Vailuu had a particularly impressive slamdown kill off a high-arching Warriors dig ricochet that he had to time perfectly.
NO. 1 PUNAHOU 3, NO. 4 KING KEKAULIKE 0
Micah Ma’a had 11 kills and Larry Tuileta had 10 to help the Buffanblu beat Na Alii, 25-9, 25-15, 25-15, in a semifinal match at McKinley.
Punahou finished the 54- minute match hitting .707. It had 45 kills and four hitting errors on 58 swings. Colton Cowell led King Kekaulike with seven kills.
