‘Iolani pounds past Punahou

The ‘Iolani Raiders wanted to forget the memory of their last outing, so Saige Ka‘aha‘aina-Torres gave her team something phenomenal to remember.

The 5-foot-11 junior played with a fury, pounding 32 kills, including two aces late in the final set, as No. 3 ‘Iolani defeated No. 4 Punahou 25-23, 24-26, 25-15, 25-18 on Tuesday night at the Raiders’ gym.

‘Iolani (9-2 overall) improved to 1-1 in the second round of Interscholastic League of Honolulu girls volleyball play. The win came just a few days after the Raiders were upset by Maryknoll, which added some turbulence to a season of big ups — they gave Kamehameha its only defeat during the first round — and downs.

Senior middle Halia Hogan (12 kills) and freshman Elena Oglivie (11 kills) gave the home team balance across the floor. Senior setter Ana Oglivie dished 47 assists and had one of her team’s three aces. For Ka‘aha‘aina-Torres, it was a career night.

“If we weren’t passing as well as we were and getting sets up, I couldn’t have done it. It’s because of them,” Ka‘aha‘aina-Torres said. “We had a fire to win, especially after this past weekend. We did it for Coach Kainoa.”

Raiders coach Kainoa Obrey was not present in the gym. Raiders coaching staff and administration had no comment. His wife, assistant coach Kelli Obrey, ran the bench.

“It’s about the match and the players,” she said.

It certainly was. The Raiders seemed to elevate when it was tied at one set apiece.

“We don’t ask our girls to do things they’ve never done before,” Kelli Obrey said. “The girls did step it up. They played for each other. Their defense was awesome tonight. Relentless after every ball no matter what the score was.”

Amalia Hilliard smashed 17 kills to lead a balanced Punahou attack. Pi‘ikea Clemens and Savana Greene each had 10 kills, and Keliiakekaipukaamaka McComber tallied nine kills. Gabriella Pua‘a had 43 assists and one kill for the Buffanblu, who hit .267 and had more aces (5-3) and blocks (9-8) than ‘Iolani.

The Raiders came through with four blocks in the pivotal third set and two more in the fourth. They hit .308, including .386 in the third.

“We didn’t pass well at all,” Punahou coach Tanya Fuamatu-Anderson said. “We gave them free points. Kudos to ‘Iolani. They came out fiery.”

Punahou (6-5, 1-1) came to ‘Iolani with confidence. The Buffanblu had beaten the Raiders in their gym 23-25, 25-17, 25-23 two weeks ago. But they struggled with serve-receive in the third game with ‘Iolani’s Elena Oglivie at serve. Ka‘aha‘aina-Torres was especially hot, scoring all of her team’s points for a 7-0 lead before Punahou called time out. ‘Iolani extended the lead to nine points. Punahou got no closer than six the rest of the set.

Leading 21-15, the Raiders got kills from Izabella Sakoda, Kristen McDaniel and Ka‘aha‘aina-Torres (back row) before a combined block by Hogan and McDaniel closed the game out.

Punahou never led in the third and fourth sets. The were within 10-9 after Kira Morikawa delivered back-to-back aces. ‘Iolani went on a 7-0 run, getting an ace from Elena Oglivie and a block from Hogan and Ka‘aha‘aina- Torres for a 17-9 lead.