The hitting of Jack Andrade and Kekoa Pili-Rumusod propelled Castle to a four-set victory over Pearl City for the OIA Division II boys volleyball championship Thursday night.
Andrade was overpowering with 15 kills, and Pili-Rumusod fired up his hitting arm in the late stages to finish with 12.
"I had to end it to take us to the states," said Pili-Rumusod, who sent a ball down the line for match point to put a wrap on the 25-15, 15-25, 26-24, 25-20 win at the Radford gym. "We did it with will and determination and we did it for coach Nell Yanagida, who passed away (in 2014)."
They also did it for head coach Pat Gomes-Woolsey, who said she was "stressing" throughout the match.
"There were times when we weren’t passing and we weren’t blocking and that really hurt in the transition game," said Gomes-Woolsey, who has been coaching for the Knights for 32 years.
Gomes-Woolsey was ecstatic for the team and made it a point to mention Kawika Benevedes, who started volleyball for the first time two days before the season started. He came over from the basketball team. Against Pearl City, he drilled five kills and added five blocks.
"He was hungry on the net," Gomes-Woolsey said. "He’s very enthusiastic."
Pearl City got a match-high 17 kills from Garrett Kamanu and six from Blaise Dela Pena on the precision setting of Tylor Canon. Petro Matai‘a added three kills and three blocks.
"We lost our heads," Kamanu said. "Castle’s a good team, but I really thought we had a good chance to beat them. We wanted this. We wanted to win (the OIA title) more than any team."
Like Castle, Pearl City will make an appearance in the upcoming state tournament.
Each team romped for one set apiece, leading to the pivotal third set, when the Chargers (6-6) blew leads of 15-9 and 20-15.
Two blocks by Makana Aipia gave the Knights (7-7) a 24-22 lead. Pearl City fought back to tie it 24-24 before a mistake and an Andrade kill put Castle up 2-1.
"We had them on the ropes and then nerves got into the kids and it showed," Pearl City coach Brennan Velasco said.
In the final set, the Chargers were hanging in at 20-20 before Pili-Rumusod led a five-point run with two kills (including the match winner) and Benevedes added a block.
Pearl City hitter P-Jay Solomon broke his arm, walked off the court and went to a hospital after colliding with libero Jordan Florita on a dig attempt in the final set.
"He saw his parents in the stands and I saw him starting to cry and I know he felt like he disappointed them," Kanamu said about Solomon. "He wasn’t crying because of his arm. He played great, so he shouldn’t be hanging his head."
