For a master of preparation like Punahou coach Rick Tune, it was not the ideal circumstance.

His top-ranked Buffanblu, as usual, made the most of a five-minute warmup, then pulled ahead to outlast No. 5 Hawaii Baptist 25-20, 25-15 Wednesday night in pool play at the Hawaii Invitational.

A full house in the Upper Gym at ‘Iolani School saw Punahou get a serious battle from the Eagles, who have won the past four Division II state championships. Punahou, D-I state champion for the past three seasons, was precise and focused. Micah Ma‘a led the way for the young Buffanblu with 15 kills, including five smashes from the back row, where he has been unstoppable all season. The 6-foot-4 senior hit .700 — just one hitting error — and had four of his team’s six aces.

But it wasn’t the normal routine in pre-game. HBA had just finished a match with Kalaheo in the Lower Gym, while Punahou was entering its first action. They got a short warmup and the match started without delay.

"I thought it was going to be an advantage for us," Eagles coach Teoni Obrey said. "It took them about half of the first set to get warmed up."

"That was tough," Tune said. "We just take care of what we can control."

As he has been through Punahou’s 8-0 start in ILH play, Ma‘a was the ‘X’ factor. His defense was impeccable as he took serve after serve from HBA, and his timing at the back row line on sets from Wil Stanley and Todd Gruebner had the audience gasping in disbelief.

"I haven’t measured (my vertical leap) since last year when it was 11-4," Ma‘a said.

It’s reasonably possible that his vertical is 4 to 6 inches higher now. It is without doubt that time in the weight room has helped him bring much more consistency and velocity on every swing. HBA’s back row did all it could against his onslaught of serves and kill attempts.

"Everyone knows that’s a great team," Ma‘a said of the Eagles. "They put up a great fight. I was pretty nervous in that first set."

HBA, which leads ILH D-II with a 2-0 mark, zoomed to a 4-1 lead thanks in part to a booming kill from 6-4 junior Isaac Liva (seven kills), but Ma‘a had four of his five back-row kills in the first set to rally the Buffanblu. The lead changed hands three times before Ma‘a took serve and sparked an 8-1 run, landing back-to-back aces. The first was pure power. The second was all finesse on an off-speed swing. It was almost unfair.

After Gruebner soared for his second block of the set, Punahou had an 18-12 lead. The Eagles chipped away and got within 22-20 after a right-side kill by Liva, but Kainoa Quindica had a block at the middle and Rohan Watamull slammed two kills, including one on a set by Ma‘a, to end the game.

Punahou got four aces in the second set — two by Ma‘a, one by libero Kelsey Yogi and one by Gruebner — to seize control. Kills by Quindica and Ma‘a, and an Yogi’s ace, sparked a 13-5 run. That turned a 5-4 lead into a 18-9 runaway. HBA got no closer than nine points after that.

Watamull tallied five kills, while Gruebner had a solid all-around effort with four kills, eight assists and two blocks. Ethan Lewis and Quindica chipped in three kills each, and Stanley had a match-high 18 assists.