Punahou rolls into final

All the pieces are in place as Punahou prepares to make its final assault on a fifth straight state crown.

The top-seeded Buffanblu (17-1) rolled to a 25-16, 25-22, 25-20 sweep of Mililani on Thursday in the Division I semifinals of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Boys Volleyball State Championships at the Moanalua gym. Locked and loaded, Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion Punahou will meet Oahu Interscholastic Association titlist Moanalua in the final tonight at Blaisdell Arena.

Coach Rick Tune didn’t hesitate when asked if his Buffanblu are missing any key pieces that could prevent them from that next win.

“No,” he nodded.

Let that be a serious first salvo in the direction of Na Menehune, who will place tonight’s hopes on the shoulders of powerful-hitting University of Hawaii commit Austin Matautia.

On Thursday, the Trojans (14-2) just did not have the pieces necessary to deal with Punahou’s stacked lineup. Ryan Wilcox fired away with 16 kills and hit .481. In the middle, Akahi Troske unloaded another 10 kills, keeping Mililani’s blockers guessing on where the sets were going to go. Todd Gruebner (22 assists) and Daniel McInerny (20 assists) were as smooth as ever on their ball distribution. Meanwhile Wil Stanley, normally a hitting machine who was dealing with defending powerful Trojans hitter Isaac Liva, contributed with nine digs.

“They (the Buffanblu) established the middle in the first set, and then they went outside, so we had a hard time knowing where to set up the block,” Mililani hitter Kamalu Kaaa said. “I thought we had a shot this year. Punahou really wanted it and they played great.”

Troske was a real thorn, pounding down some menacing kills from the middle.

“We stuck to our game plan,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of weapons all around and so if the outsides are working, things come easier to the middle.”

Said Tune, “They were giving us the middle. We take what defenses give us. We don’t come in with a predisposed plan of attack. It’s based on all kinds of options. Our players do their homework. They know what to expect from opponents and are ready to adjust. It’s a matter of execution.”

Liva finished with 16 kills for Mililani, Kamalu added 11, and Trojans setter Zavier Lieb collected 27 assists and came up with eight digs.

With relative ease, the Buffanblu won the first set, pulling away after an 8-all tie and gaining set point on a Wilcox kill.

The second set was a lot closer and the Trojans worked for seven ties up until 11-11, but Punahou pulled away with a quick 8-2 run to make it 19-13. Troske and Wilcox had two kills each in the pivotal sequence, and Kana‘i Akana added a kill and a block. The deficit was too big for Mililani to rally back from, and once again, Wilcox put away set point.

The third set was virtually no contest as the Buffanblu scored the first six points and built leads of 15-5 and 24-17 before a net violation proved fatal for the Trojans.

Punahou has won 33 titles in the 46 state tournaments since the inaugural one in 1969. In the past five seasons, Moanalua advanced to the state semifinals every time, but is in the final for the first time in that span.

Moanalua 3, Kamehameha-Hawaii 1

Second-seeded Na Menehune took the first two sets without much resistance, but couldn’t punch out the third-seeded Warriors in three.

With the supreme hitting of Austin Matautia (29 kills, 15 digs), the setting of Zachary Kagehiro (20 assists, 12 digs), and the all-around play of Seyj Engleman (14 digs), Moanalua regrouped to put away the champions of the Big Island after dropping the third set.

The 25-17, 25-19, 19-25, 25-18 win puts Na Menehune (16-0) in the state final for the first time after making it to the semifinals the previous five seasons. The Oahu Interscholastic Association champions play four-time defending state champion Punahou in tonight’s final at Blaisdell Arena.

The loss was the first of the year for the Warriors (15-1), who were without star hitter Isaiah Laeha and who went 14-0 in the BIIF. They were trying to get to the state final for the fourth time in the last five seasons. They made it there in 2012, 2014 and 2015.

Laeha suffered a knee injury in Wednesday’s quarterfinal victory over Kamehameha.

Avery Enriques (12 kills, nine digs), twin brother Addison Enriques (12 kills, 13 digs, three blocks) and Jai Makuakane (17 assists) led the way for the Warriors in Thursday’s loss.

Division II

Molokai 3, Damien 2

Kaimana Kahale had 12 kills and the Farmers beat the Monarchs 22-25, 25-22, 25-20, 19-25, 15-9.

Molokai spread its attack around, with Michael Sterner, Lekilii Burrows and Rockwell Adolpho each adding eight kills and John Duvachelle dishing out 36 assists.

Seth Daniels led Damien with 13 kills and Shaun Apiki added 12.

Hawaii Baptist 3, Kapaa 0

Caleb Fisher put down 21 kills in 40 attempts and the Eagles beat the Warriors 25-21, 25-13, 25-20.

Hawaii Baptist hit .346 in the decisive second set and .220 for the match while holding Kapaa to a .024 mark.

Brett Miller had 13 kills for HBA and Davin Rausch dished out 41 assists.