Micah Ma‘a had his share of excitement on the football field and the basketball court.

The versatile 6-foot-4 athlete even took time off from club volleyball action during this senior year. The time away has turned out to be time well spent. Ma‘a soared for 15 kills as No. 1 Punahou swept No. 2 Kamehameha 25-21, 25-15 in a breathtaking performance by their top player.

Punahou improved to 5-0 in ILH play. Kamehameha, coming off a trip to the Best of the West tourney in California, dropped to 4-1.

It was a spectacular night on the court for Ma‘a, who showed a bit of rust two weeks ago in the ILH season opener against Maryknoll. That match came just days after he had finished the basketball season. Prior to that, Ma‘a hadn’t played volleyball since nationals last summer.

"I’m always rusty," he quipped after hitting a solid .500 against Kamehameha.

At this point, however, Ma‘a is revving on all cylinders. His precision with setters Wil Stanley and Todd Gruebner was impeccable.

"When (Stanley) calls something, it’s a constant conversation," said Ma‘a, who signed with UCLA in November. "It’s letting him know what me or Coach want to do. It’s not one person making every decision."

Ma‘a was crisp, precise and 11 feet in the air. There was little the Warriors could do, and the 300 or so fans at Kekuhaupio Gymnasium could only gasp in amazement as Punahou’s phenom pounded seven kills from the back row.

"We call that play ‘Bick,’ as in back-row quick," Ma‘a explained.

Stanley (14 assists, four kills) and Todd Gruebner (13 assists, one ace) were fed smooth passes from the back row all night long in Punahou’s modified 6-2 offense.

"When Micah is on a roll, it’s tough not to set him," Stanley said. "With all the options we have, we want to save him, but he wouldn’t mind having every set."

Kamehameha’s Naone Passi-Cannon had a team-high 11 kills.

It was a surreal 48 hours for the Warriors, who played their first match without head coach Kainoa Downing. Assistant coach Alan Rosehill, the former UH men’s and HPU women’s coach — and longtime assistant at USC (men) and ‘Iolani — took the reins from Downing, his cousin.

Downing announced to the team his decision to step down on Sunday, after they played in the Best of the West Tournament in Poway, Calif.

"We were at the San Diego airport. We had a meeting and he told us he was quitting. We’re not sure why," senior Devin Mau said.

In a phone conversation after the match, Downing said his decision had been brewing for a while.

"For right now, I have to tend to some family matters," he said. "Knowing that Alan is there, the team is in good hands. There isn’t anything lesser."

In spite of their coach’s absence, the home team had the lead twice in the first set, which had five ties, before two hitting errors and one service error allowed the Buffanblu to take a 16-12 lead.

Christopher Wise’s ace brought the Warriors within 17-16, but a kill by Rohan Watamull, a block by Sam Bradley and an ace by Kelsey Yogi — and a rotation violation by Kamehameha — opened Punahou’s lead to five points.

The Warriors made one more run, getting two kills from David Kaaa to get within 21-20, but that’s when Ma‘a’s amazing air show took over. He bombed a shot from the back row, and after a kill by Ethan Lewis, Ma‘a rose for another hammer from 10 feet back to make it game point.

Yogi made a spectacular dig in the corner that led to a Punahou point, closing out the opening game.

From there, Kamehameha simply had no way to contend with Ma‘a from the back row. It was, as one spectator said in the bleachers, "unblockable."