As far as victories go, Mililani’s was about as academic as you can get Wednesday night.

The Trojans waltzed passed fourth-seeded King Kekaulike 25-16, 25-14, 25-21 at the Moanalua gym to advance to the Division I semifinals of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Boys Volleyball State Tournament.

With all parts of its game in solid working order, Mililani (14-1) is hoping to ride the momentum into tonight’s match against Punahou, which has won the last four state tournaments.

“Tonight, we did what we needed to do to get by,” Trojans head coach John Ing said. “Our passing was a whole lot better (than in a sweep of McKinley on Tuesday). We tried to force some of our sets, though, going for the big hits, but the passing and blocking and defense was very good. Looking for a little more energy.”

Spoken like a man who knows that pretty good won’t cut it against the Buffanblu tonight.

“We may have been a little flat,” said Mililani setter Zavier Lieb, who steered the offensive ship with 30 assists. “But I feel like we play better when we play against the better opponents. Knowing we’re going to play Punahou is motivation. We haven’t reached our peak yet and I feel like we’ll reach it just in time.”

Isaac Liva, a 6-foot-5 senior, swung away for 14 kills for the Trojans, including some real bombs, and with him in the lineup, it creates severe problems for defenders. Sila Fuiava added nine kills and hit .389, and he also came up with seven digs.

Na Alii (12-2), the champions of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, suffered the breakdowns associated with poor passing, according to head coach Al Paschoal.

“Our passing fell apart, plain and simple,” he said. “Every once in a while when our offense was clicking, there were a couple of heavyweights out there going at it, Liva and Don Thompson. But they’ve got a front line that can put the ball away at will and you won’t beat them unless you play a perfect game.”

Thompson, King Kekaulike’s 6-4 senior hitter, finished with seven kills and teammate Hunter Marrs added six. Reilley Marrs came through with nine assists and six digs and Ian Martins added 11 assists.

Lieb’s ace put the finishing touches on the first set for Mililani. In the second set, the Trojans got the final three points on a Fuiava ace, a Liva kill and a King Kekaulike net violation.

In the third, Na Alii fought back from a 20-15 deficit to make it 21-all, but Hunter Marrs served long and Liva got the next two kills before a King Kekaulike back-row violation ended it.

“We were off our game — passing, defense, all-around,” Hunter Marrs said. “They (the Trojans) are a good team, especially 15 (Liva) and 13 (Kaaa).”

Punahou 3, Kahuku 0

It’s on to the semifinals for the four-time defending state champion Buffanblu, who knocked off the Red Raiders 25-15, 25-10, 25-17 at the Moanalua gym.

Ryan Hong, on a set from Todd Gruebner, put down the match-winner in the third set for Punahou (16-1), which meets Mililani tonight.

Ryan Wilcox delivered 12 kills and hit .625 for the winners, and Ethan Siegfried added 10. Gruebner finished with 23 assists, Wil Stanley collected three aces and Kelsey Yogi had six digs.

Micah Maiava led Kahuku (13-3) with seven kills and he hit .263. Cameron Renaud helped with 11 assists and Slader Bark came up with six digs.

Punahou is two victories away from a fifth state title in a row and 10th out of the last 12. The Buffanblu have won 33 of the 46 state crowns since the inaugural tournament in 1969. No tournament was held in 2007, due to a switch in seasons from fall to spring.

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