BRUCE ASATO / BASATO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii Baptist’s Samuel Nishimiya hit off the block of Kamehameha’s Kobe Young in the first set of the Eagles’ loss to the Warriors on Saturday.
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Kamehameha’s reward for cleaning up its play was a tournament title.
The sixth-ranked Warriors wanted to minimize their errors in their three-day KS Cup.
Less than 24 hours after a loss, Kamehameha won two matches on Saturday morning to claim the KS Cup. Naone Cannon had 12 kills and Nainoa Barlan added eight to help Kamehameha beat fourth-ranked Hawaii Baptist 25-19, 27-25 in the championship match.
“We talked a lot about minimizing our errors and staying focused throughout the game, talking to each other because communication was a big part of our loss last night,” Cannon said.
Setter Matthew Saffery finished with 26 assists against HBA. The Warriors struggled to find a rhythm against third-ranked Kamehameha-Hawaii’s big block on Friday evening. The Warriors returned Saturday morning to sweep Edison (Calif.) 25-22, 25-23 in the semifinals.
“I think they’re finally figuring it out,” said Kamehameha coach Randy Nako. “They cannot give away unforced errors and points. That was the main focus for this tournament. I didn’t care if we won or lost as long as we cut down on our errors and played well.”
Caleb Fisher had nine kills and three blocks and Brett Miller had eight kills for Hawaii Baptist in the tournament final. The Eagles beat KS-Hawaii 25-27, 25-19, 25-20 in the semifinals.
“Hawaii Baptist is a great team,” Nako said. “I love playing them. That’s when we learn the most, when we play them and KS-Hawaii. Great teams, you got to play them to get better.”
KS-Hawaii beat Edison 25-11, 25-21 to finish in third place. Santa Barbara (Calif.) beat Fountain Valley (Calif.) 21-25, 25-21, 25-23 to finish in fifth place.
