If ‘Iolani is ever behind, the Raiders believe they’ll re-engage themselves back into the match.
Saige Kaahaaina-Torres had 21 kills and Elena Oglivie and Sasha Petticord added 11 each as ‘Iolani beat fourth-seeded Hilo 25-12, 20-25, 25-13, 25-11 in Thursday’s Division I quarterfinals of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Girls Volleyball State Championships at McKinley.
Aside from a letdown in Set 2, ‘Iolani was efficient in the match. The Raiders outhit the Vikings .299 to .100. Ana Oglivie had 46 assists for ‘Iolani (14-4), which faces top-seeded Kahuku in today’s 7 p.m. semifinal at McKinley.
“We like to think if we’re ever down big or close in a set and we make a run at the end, we can use that momentum to start the next set,” ‘Iolani coach Kainoa Obrey said. “I think maybe that had a little bit to do with it. We sideout first and we were able to serve tough after that sideout. That got some separation early and you feel a little bit more confident as a team.”
Though the Raiders dropped Set 2, they erased a double-digit deficit and carried that momentum into the latter stages of the match. Kawai Ua had 12 kills, Alexus Paglinawan had 10 kills and Kailee Kurokawa had 34 assists for Hilo (15-4).
“We started to flow better, started to play well together and that made the difference,” said ‘Iolani libero Sammie Worley, who had 15 digs and two aces.
Hilo recovered from a slow start, got touches at the net and dug a bunch of balls in Set 2. Ua had four kills and an ace to help the Vikings build a 17-6 lead.
“We knew that this is a different game with the Oahu teams,” said Hilo coach Drew Fernandez. “We needed to stop them at the net before they passed through.”
The Raiders gradually chipped away behind Worley’s serving run, closing to 17-12 on her ace. ‘Iolani later closed to 23-20 on Elena Oglivie’s ace, forcing Hilo to call a timeout. Ua’s kill after the timeout put Hilo at set point and Laurie McGrath and Taina Leao blocked ‘Iolani to end the set. Hilo outhit ‘Iolani .364 to .184 in Set 2.
“I think the second set we shocked them a bit,” Fernandez said. “We wanted to pull it out.”
The Raiders led 10-3 to start Set 3 and never allowed Hilo to string together points. Tied 4-4 in Set 4, Petticord had consecutive kills to start a 4-0 run for the Raiders. The Raiders gradually extended the lead to finish the match.
“Toward the end we started to get our momentum back,” Worley said. “We started to play well together again.”
Kahuku 3, Farrington 0
The Red Raiders swept the Governors 25-15, 25-14, 25-13 in a quarterfinal match at McKinley.
Phoebe Grace had 12 kills and ShaLi Niu had 11 kills for Kahuku (15-0). ShaRae Niu added 40 assists and three aces. The Red Raiders outhit the Governors .314 to .010.
A 10-0 run by Kahuku helped the Red Raiders extend a 10-8 lead to 20-8 in Set 3. ShaLi Niu had three kills and ShaRae Niu was steady at the service line during Kahuku’s run.
Molimau Heimuli had six kills and 10 digs for Farrington (12-4).
Kamehameha 3, Kapolei 0
The defending champion and second-seeded Warriors swept the Hurricanes 25-13, 25-21, 25-15 to advance to the semifinals to face KingKekaulike today at McKinley.
Kayla Afoa led Kamehameha with 12 kills and Kili Robins added 11 kills while hitting .357. Robins also finished with a team-high 18 digs while Afoa had 16 for the ILH champions. Braelyn Akana added nine kills and hit .500.
“(Kapolei’s) a very big team and we always focus on our side of the net,” Kamehameha coach Chris Blake said. “We wanted to control first touch. We played pretty good defense today. … We dug a lot of balls to get some points. Our setters did a great job of transitioning, spreading things out and we were able to execute pretty well today.”
Jayleen Abregana led Kapolei with six kills and the Hurricanes hit a collective .074.
Kamehameha has won eight of the last 11 state titles and reached the final in the three exceptions. The Warriors swept King Kekaulike in last year’s quarterfinals, 25-13, 27-25, 25-19, but Blake expects to face an improved Na Alii team today.
“At this part of the season everyone’s playing their best and I think for us we always expect everybody’s best match,” Blake said.
Division II
Hawaii Baptist 3, Molokai 0
Keri Lum had 11 kills, as the Eagles breezed to an easy victory over the Farmers, 25-8, 25-4, 25-12.
Lum hit .455, with Cameron Hema adding eight kills on 10 swings (.800) and Kallie Langford putting down seven on 14 swings (.429), as Hawaii Baptist (13-1) hit .377 in the match. The Eagles will advance to face Kapaa.
Molokai struggled offensively, failing to hit above .000 in any of the three sets. Shaelyn McCutcheon had three kills to lead the Farmers (10-4).
Damien 3, Konawaena 0
Shelby Capllonch put down a match-high 18 kills and added 20 digs as the Monarchs upset the second-seeded Wildcats 25-14, 25-14, 28-26.
Kaira Wengler had five kills and 18 digs, and Marissa Daligcon had 20 digs for Damien (11-4). Anastasia Tuifua had nine kills for Konawaena (14-5), which hit just .014 in the match.
Damien advances to face Le Jardin in the semifinals today.
Le Jardin 3, Hana 0
Julia Fisher had 15 kills on 21 swings, hitting .571, as the Bulldogs knocked off the third-seeded Dragons 25-15, 25-5, 25-16.
Nina Krupa had a match-high 23 assists for the Bulldogs, adding eight service aces, seven kills and seven digs. As a team, Le Jardin (12-3) hit .346 while holding Hana (12-1) to a minus-.101 hitting percentage.
Kapaa 3, Waianae 2
Paea Tafea had 15 kills as the Warriors rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat the Seasiders 25-9, 20-25, 14-25, 25-20, 15-9.
Keani Tolenoa added 12 kills and nine digs for Kapaa (12-2), which advances to face top-seeded Hawaii Baptist.
Tayzia Pakele had 15 kills, and Jasmine Fonoti had 10 to lead Waianae (9-4).
Consolation
Hawaii Prep 2, Kohala 1
Roosevelt 2, Honokaa 0
