Moanalua dealt with three-set matches throughout the weekend at the Best of the West Invitational.

When it found itself in another three setter on Tuesday, Na Menehune relied on what they learned from those tough situations.

Austin Matautia had 18 kills to help host and third-ranked Moanalua rally for a 23-25, 25-18, 19-17 win over eighth-ranked Kahuku in an OIA boys volleyball match. Nalu Demello and Seyj Engleman added seven kills each for Na Menehune (3-0), who tied for ninth at the 32-team Best of the West Invitational in San Diego that featured some of the top teams in Southern California.

“In San Diego, we played a lot of three-set matches,” said Moanalua setter Zackary Miyamoto, who finished with 32 assists.” It was a mixture of being up and losing the lead or coming from behind and taking the match. The level of play up there is super high and just playing at that level consistently really helped us.”

Keaunui Ah You had seven kills and Micha Maiava had six kills for the Red Raiders (1-1). Kahuku scored the final five points to take Set 1 and erased a five-point deficit midway through Set 3.

“We don’t count this as a loss,” said Kahuku coach Kaniela Kalama. “Considering most of our guys play volleyball for three months out of the year and a couple of ours that played for three weeks, for us this is amazing. They did an awesome job. I’m proud of them, but we still have a lot of work to do.”

Facing tough competition over the weekend helped Moanalua finish off Set 3 and keep an even temperament, particularly when Kahuku rallied from an 11-6 deficit to tie it 14-14.

“We told ourselves to stay calm and we thought back to the Best of the West, where we played together and found success,” Miyamoto said. “We just needed to remember that. We just needed to stay together in tight situations to emerge victorious.”

Engleman’s kill made it 15-14, but Matautia’s kill out of the back row went wide to tie it at 15. Demello’s cross-court shot gave Moanalua a 16-15 lead. Hirkley Latu’s kill helped Kahuku tie at 16.

Matautia’s kill out of the back made it 17-16, but Ah You responded with a kill that tied it at 17. Matautia’s kill from the back made it 18-17 and Miyamoto and Caleb Casinas teamed up for a block to end the match.

“If we hadn’t experienced that already up there, it would’ve been to our detriment,” said Moanalua coach Alan Cabanting. “Our team would’ve started to fall apart once it got really tight. With this group, they held it together and played as a team and forced others to contribute.

“At the most critical times, you had other guys contributing and then we go back to Austin and other guys contributing and back to Austin. Everybody knows we’re going to be setting Austin.”