Upholding a Legacy: Punahou senior Kana‘i Akana

In the Land of the Rising Sun, the Punahou Buffanblu are enjoying the experience of a lifetime.

The team left the islands on Saturday for a trip to Japan. There will be exhibition matches. Sightseeing. Unforgettable moments of bonding with teammates and new friendships with new faces.

“Hopefully, we’ll experience a lot of really good food and really good competition,” said 6-foot-4 senior Kana‘i Akana. “We’re going to tour, but we’re also going to be playing the top three high school teams in Japan. Their teams are really good at getting the ball back over.”

Somewhere in the vastness of the volleyball universe, Rick Tune remains engrossed in all the angles, dexterity and in-house analytics numbers that he and his staff refined long, long before there was such a thing evolving at the pro sports level. Punahou is unbeaten, once again, in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu at 7-0. Tune is stunned by some of the preposterous, yet real numbers being posted by Akana.

“There’s a lot of plus-minus stats we have, percentages, all of it. Kana‘i is at the top of almost every category,” Tune said, and there are a lot of of categories. “Oh man, there’s probably 12 to 16. We take probably 12 of them really seriously.”

But there’s one statistic that reflects more than Akana’s prowess. It reveals a dynastic program — 35 state titles in the past 45 seasons, including the past six in a row — that has refused to settle for a single-layered approach to offense.

“Kana‘i will terminate it 78 percent of the time on the back side. He’s hitting almost .800 on the season,” Tune said. “Ryan (Wilcox) and Kawai (Hong), our left-side guys get the bulk of the attention. We feel comfortable jacking it backwards, one on none, one on one, and he converts almost every time.

“Against our team, you can’t just take something away because we’ll just go somewhere else. We can run a 5-1 because Kana‘i can play out of the back row, dig, pass and set if he has to. There aren’t a lot of players I can name in the past 10 years who can do that. Ryan can hit the bic, but Kana‘i is really good at hitting the ‘D’ ball.”

Family of athletes

Akana grew up with the two things he loves most: the beach and volleyball. His dream is to play professional beach volleyball. It’s not far-fetched, not with Akana’s love for the sport, not with his environment and success — a 3.8 grade-point average and a scholarship to BYU — and certainly, a bloodline in the game that is matched by few. Dad (Elroy Akana) played football at Kailua. Mom (Kristen Crabb) played volleyball at La Pietra.

“I would say volleyball definitely runs in our family, especially on my mom’s side,” Akana said. “My grandpa (Tony Crabb) was a 1984 Olympic coach, the first year the USA team won a gold medal. Two of my cousins, Taylor and Trevor Crabb, are both highly ranked AVP beach volleyball players. My uncle, Kaione Crabb, was a great player who was on the Reebok national team when he was 17. My other uncle, Kaiwi Crabb, was a great high school player who decided to play football in college.”

But the direct connection may be on his maternal side.

“My mom was a great high school setter. My grandma (Wendy Crabb) played volleyball throughout her whole life,” the grandson said.

Akana believes he gets his height from mom’s side. Kaione (6-5) and Kaiwi (6-4) are his mother’s brothers.

Constantly on the court

There is no real offseason, which Akana loves, as well. He plays for Spike and Serve, a club coached by Jordan Inafuku (Kamehameha, Stanford), and he also happens to be ‘Iolani’s head coach.

A bunch of Buffanblu play on the same club team. Punahou swept ‘Iolani, then needed three sets to edge the Raiders a week later.

“I could see Coach (Inafuku) trying to make blocking adjustments,” Akana said after Punahou’s sweep on March 6.

Punahou has handled legacy and competition with composure and intensity in just the right doses.

“It’s definitely fun, way more fun when we’re trying our best and giving our all and just being focused,” Akana said. “Mainly, it’s the most fun when we’re winning because of how hard we work.”

Akana has evolved because of his dream. Because of his drive.

“I definitely had to work extra hard to stay low to the ground,” Akana said. “To constantly remind myself to stay low.”

The Japan tour will come to an end soon enough. The team will return to the islands on March 27. Every ILH team will have a target on the Buffanblu.

“At Punahou, we’re a pretty mature team. We’re well-bonded,” Akana said.

For Akana, volleyball is basically oxygen. It is the glue that bonds family together when they hit the beach.

“There’s always a volleyball,” he said. “And we’re always peppering.”