When OIA contenders step up, Moanalua swats them down.

Na Menehune made Kaiser its latest boys volleyball victim Wednesday night, dropping the Cougars from the undefeated ranks, 25-17, 25-13.

They’ve now won 37 consecutive regular-season sets, dating back to March 2017. This season, they’re also going for an eighth league championship in the past nine years.

“It always feels good to win in straight sets,” said senior setter Cole Fukumitsu, who had 17 assists, two aces and three digs. “The team did good tonight. We’re still trying to figure it out, developing our chemistry, bringing in the back-up guys and making sure they’re playing their role.”

Max Slaughter and DiAeris McRaven were the recipients of Fukumitsu’s sets. Slaughter, a smooth customer at 6 feet 1, put down nine kills. McRaven, at 6-4, added seven.

“Max is unstoppable,” Fukumitsu said before pausing and adding, “both of them are unstoppable. If I give them sets, they’ll put it away. They make my job easier.”

In the first set, Kaiser (3-1) stayed with Moanalua (4-0) through 9-9 and held some brief leads. But Na Menehune went on a 14-2 run to get it to 23-11 before the Cougars fought back unsuccessfully and fell 25-17.

“We’ve got a lot of things to work on,” Kaiser coach Michael Smyrychynski said. “We were expecting a high-pressure game. They (Na Menehune) were a little sloppy in the beginning. We hung in there and then they cleaned it up. The difference between a good team and a championship-caliber team is not just a minimization of mistakes, but being able to execute off of mistakes. It’s obvious that when we get into a bad situation, we’re scrambling for the free ball. They’re still putting the ball up to hit. It’s constant pressure.”

Early in the second set, Moanalua was in a groove system-wise, with McRaven slamming kills from both pins and Michael Pawlak coming in with two of his own for a quick 6-0 lead.

A hot run by Kaiser hitter Cyrus Singelman (six kills) late in the match was not enough to slow down Na Menehune, who were never seriously pressured the rest of the way.

Moanalua is still trying to crack the ILH code, an attempt of which won’t happen until the Division I state tournament if Na Menehune get there. It’s been 40 years since an OIA team came out on top at states — Roosevelt in 1979.

“We still have a long ways to go,” said Moanalua coach Alan Cabanting, who took his team to the state final in a 3-0 loss to Punahou a year ago. “We have the people to be able to get there again, but it’s the mind-set, the hard work that you need to put in, a lot of things we gotta work out. They’re working to get there.”