Success for Moanalua begins with Hula.
Hula Crisostomo and Tayli Ikenaga, a senior and a freshman, supplied nonstop back-row digging to fuel fifth-ranked Moanalua’s 25-19, 25-15, 25-16 sweep of Mililani in OIA girls volleyball semifinal play at McKinley Student Council Gymnasium on Monday night.
“We know they can dig a lot of balls, so our hitters know we can swing aggressively,” Moanalua coach Alan Cabanting said.
Moanalua remained unbeaten at 13-0. Senior Emily Dulaney paced the offense with 12 kills, two aces and nine assists. Hard-hitting Jeslyn Spencer had seven kills, and middle Delylah Sanerivi had her seven kills in the second and third sets.
“We told Delylah, we know you’re getting tired, but we’ll set you and you make sure you attack the ball,” Cabanting said of Sanerivi, who also had three of her team’s four blocks.
Once again, senior setter Sara Ehnstrom was the glue with 20 assists, five kills and one ace. Crisostomo and Ikenaga were everywhere, matching the heavy hitting of Mililani’s Gabby Naniseni (nine kills), Falanika Danielson (eight) and Starr Sergent (five). Mililani hit .125. Moanalua hit .312.
Setter Aysia Miller had 19 assists and four kills.
Mililani led the opening set 7-4 before Moanalua scored seven unanswered points and never trailed again. Na Menehune stretched the lead to 14-8 and coasted thanks in large part to four net violations, six hitting errors and three service errors. Mililani (13) had nearly double Moanalua’s kill count (seven), but got no closer than a two-point margin.
The second set was pure willpower by Moanalua’s defense. Naniseni had 13 of her team’s 41 swings, but landed just two kills as Na Menehune dug everything in sight.
Na Menehune rolled to a 4-0 lead and never trailed in the third set. The lead expanded to 24-14, the largest margin of the match.
Moanalua has won four OIA titles: two under Cabanting in 2015 and ’16, one in ’07 under Tommy Lake, and its first in ’00 under Sheri Sagayaga.
Kapolei 3, Waianae 0
Sixth-ranked Kapolei swept Waianae for the second time this season, 25-22, 25-19, 25-19, and advanced to face Moanalua in Wednesday’s championship match at McKinley.
Anela Pakaki-Pias led the Hurricanes (12-0) with eight kills and had one of her team’s nine aces. Middles Alexis Mareko and Michelyn Pilila‘au tallied six kills each. Pilila‘au had a team-high two blocks.
Amryi Paris added five kills and an ace, and Tihani Guzman chipped in four kills and two aces. Junior setter Olivia Transfiguracion had 27 assists, three aces and one kill.
Jasmine Fonoti led Waianae (10-3) with eight kills and two aces. Heipua Tautua‘a added six kills. Cherish Borge, Hokulani Irvine-Pule and Kamilla Marinas had four kills apiece.
