Postseason accolades are, in the eyes of Evan Enriques, absolutely bittersweet.

The senior was sensational on the hardwood again for the Kamehameha-Hawaii Warriors, valuable for his skill and versatility. He was more than a jack-of-all trades, however, as his team relied on him more and more in the postseason.

In the state semifinals, they went to him 104 times, and he provided 40 kills in a remarkable victory over Moanalua. He followed that with 28 kills in the state final, a four-set loss to perennial powerhouse Punahou.

For his unparalleled season — a BIIF title over sturdy Waiakea, a deep state-tourney run, untiring effort under extreme duress — voters rewarded Enriques with the Star-Advertiser boys volleyball All-State Player of the Year honor. It’s the second POY in three seasons for the 6-foot-2, Stanford-bound player. He outpointed Larry Tuileta, Micah Ma’a and Daniel Andrews of state champion Punahou.

"I don’t think I’ll ever swing 100 times again," Enriques said. "For me, it’s just I’m thankful that I got this, but in some cases, I wish it didn’t have to come down to recognizing one all-star player. Tui, Micah — it easily could’ve gone to them."

Kamehameha (Kapalama) coach Kainoa Downing saw Enriques rear back and deliver 28 kills in their state quarterfinal match on the Big Island, which the Keaau campus squad won in four sets.

"The good thing about Evan is, besides being the main player and getting 40 kills, he’s really good. They go to him a lot, especially in crunch time. He’s on the U.S. Junior National Team. I think it’s merited," Downing said.

"Oh yeah, you go to a player like Evan as much as you can," Punahou coach Rick Tune said. "It’s rare to have a player who is in every play of the game who can be a force passing, hitting, serving. So you really have to account for him every time he touches the ball. You can’t say that about every player. He’s constantly putting pressure on the other team.

"We were lucky. We were able to come out on top. Evan led a very young team that was good enough to beat a very good Moanalua team, and you know what? They could’ve beaten us, too. We just played better in a few facets of the game."

Coach of the year honors went to Tune, who edged his finals counterpart, KS-Hawaii’s Guy Enriques.

"You’ve got to give Rick credit. He keeps that program together. He had two starters down (at the state tourney) who were injured and it never affected them," Downing said of his ILH counterpart. "It’s a tough one because Rick without a doubt has way more resources available to him, but he still has to put it together. You look at Guy, he has less resources, less than I do, coming from a small island. He’s got half as much population wise, so you’ve got to give him a lot of credit for putting that together. They had a harder road, going through Moanalua, and that’s a tough place."

Several coaches received votes in the COY balloting: Downing, Alan Cabanting (Moanalua), Teoni Obrey (Hawaii Baptist), Kent Ma (Mid-Pacific), Caleb Palmer (Seabury Hall) and Mike China (Punahou II).

FAB 15

Player of the Year: Evan Enriques, KS-Hawaii

Coach of the Year: Rick Tune, Punahou

HONORABLE MENTION
Luuga Vailuu, Moa., MH/OP/OH, 6-2, Sr.
Luke Owens, Kalaheo, MB, 6-8, Sr.
Adrian Faitalia, Saint Louis, OH, 6-2, Sr.
Austin Amian, Moa., OH/LIB, 5-6, Sr.
Kupaa Harrison, Kalaheo, S, 6-4, Jr.
Kamahao Paio, Waiakea, OH, 6-4, Sr.
Emmett Enriques, KSH, OH, 5-11, Jr.
Kekaulike Alameda, KSH, L/DS, 5-6, Jr.
Isaac Liva, HBA, OPP/OH, 6-4, So.
Pono Ka‘a‘a, Punahou II, OPP/S, 6-2, Sr.
Cameron King, Seabury, OH/M, 6-3, Sr.
Colton Cowell, K. Kekaulike, OH, 5-10, Jr.
Alapaki Iaea, KS-Hawaii, MB, 5-11, Jr.
Avery Enriques, KSH, S/L/DS, 5-8, Fr.
Blake Rizzo, Seabury, OH/M, 6-5, Sr.
Kelsey Yogi, Punahou, L, 5-6, So.
Todd Gruebner, Punahou, S, 6-2, So.
Kahiau Machado, KS, OH, 6-3, Jr.
Brett Miller, Hawaii Baptist, M, 6-2, So.
Nio Pouesi, Campbell, MH/OH, 5-11, Jr.

ENLARGE