Jack Deuchar pounded 13 kills and Christian Hong added seven as Punahou swept Kamehameha 25-19, 25-21 on Thursday night at Kekuhaupio Gymnasium.
Shea Suzumoto led an active back row as Punahou improved to 4-0 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, handing Kamehameha its first loss after three victories.
“I like the way we competed,” longtime Buffanblu coach Rick Tune said. “Not like the way we played on Tuesday.”
Punahou got past Hawaii Baptist 25-18, 27-25 in that match at Hemmeter Fieldhouse.
“As far as sticking to the game plan, this is the best we’ve done so far this season,” Tune noted.
Deuchar, a 6-foot-9 junior, had seven kills in the opening set. In all, he had just two hitting errors and hit .423. As a team, the Buffanblu hit .391 and limited Kamehameha to .094.
“It’s always fun coming to Kamehameha. There’s always that energy,” he said.
Kamehameha led 4-2 in the first set, but Punahou scored the next three points and didn’t trail again. Cruse Aea roofed Deuchar to bring the home crowd to life. That brought the Warriors within 17-15, but Deuchar returned the favor a moment later, snuffing a tip by Aea.
After a right-side kill by Claudio Clini (four kills), the visitors led 20-17. Hitting errors by Kamehameha on the next two points opened Punahou’s lead to five and the Buffanblu held on.
Punahou finished with 14 service errors, including nine in the first game.
“I served good in warmups,” setter Connor McInerny said.
The Buffanblu hit .421 in the first set to overcome the service problem. Then they took command from the start of the second game. They extended the lead to 16-9 as Hong landed their only ace. Deuchar had a quiet second set until the final run, after a kill by Aea had pulled Kamehameha within 23-20.
The Warriors got three kills, one ace and a block from Aea. Christmas Togiai had all five of his kills in the second set, and also had a block. Matthew Saffery had a team-high 10 assists.
“I’m happy with the way they played, but I’m happy with the final score,” Kamehameha coach Randy Nako said. “We’re going 5-1, 6-2, going back and forth. We’re still trying to find ourselves, the right combinations.”
Tune wasn’t overly concerned about the service errors.
“We have some growth ahead. This is a young, entirely new team and this is a tough place to play,” he said.
Punahou will visit Mid-Pacific on Saturday before hosting the Clash of the Titans next week. Kamehameha will host ‘Iolani on Saturday and Maryknoll on Tuesday.
