The Kamehameha Warriors are going to the big dance.
Kainoa Wade clutched up again with 30 kills and three aces as Kamehameha edged Punahou 25-20, 25-19, 25-27, 29-31, 15-9 on Wednesday to secure the ILH regular-season title and an automatic state-tournament berth.
At 7-1, Kamehameha has one of the ILH’s two state spots.
“They started playing better, putting their serves in. They were capitalizing and we had no answer,” Wade said. “We had a long talk with our coach (before the fifth set), just keep everyone confident and poised. We kept our serves in and I was asking for the ball. We knew this was going to be our revenge game, and we had a state berth on the line, so it’s good to pull this out, especially in their gym.”
Kahale Clini led Punahou (5-3) with 27 kills, but also had nine hitting errors and seven of his team’s 31 service errors. Still, it was some of Punahou’s greatest volleyball of the season.
“It’s a process. Our guys are under this combination of this intense pressure that no one else in the country probably has because they’re in this lineage. They’re having to manage that and also, they’re an entirely new lineup under the bright lights of ILH competition,” Punahou coach Rick Tune said. “I’m super proud of my guys tonight, learning how to compete under the bright lights, getting better every week. The message is patience. It’s going to happen at some point, it’s just a matter of when.”
Wade, a 6-foot-8 sophomore, did not have a hitting error until the final set. He had two of his three aces in the final set to give Kamehameha the push it needed. Punahou led the fifth 7-6 on a kill by James Taras on an overpass. After a hitting error by Clini, Wade went back to serve and delivered consecutive aces for a 9-7 Kamehameha lead.
Punahou got within 10-9 after a kill by Afatia Thompson, but Kamehameha closed out the match with a 5-0 run. Heston Cabinian had a kill, Punahou’s Evan Porter had a hitting error and Kamehameha setter Brayden Van Kuren roofed Porter.
After a hitting error by Clini from the back row, Cabinian roofed Ian Kinney to send Kamehameha to the states.
Cabinian had just seven kills, but had six blocks and an ace. Van Kuren finished with 30 assists, six digs and two aces, and libero Harryzen Soares added a team-high eight digs.
Kamehameha will get a break until entering the ILH playoff tournament on April 14. That will give players such Soares time to heal up. He played the last two weeks with a hand injury.
“I’m not 100 percent, but now I get a break. It’s amazing. We have a lot to work on, but in the final set we’re finishing much, much stronger,” Soares said.
Until this week, the Warriors had not won a fifth set. Then they beat ‘Iolani on Monday in five as Wade amassed 46 kills.
Punahou will play at ‘Iolani to determine the second-place team in the regular season on Tuesday.
Kinney finished with 16 kills, Thompson had 11 kills, Porter tallied eight and Adam Haidar chipped in seven. Freshman Elijah Smith dished 33 assists and classmate Kanalu Akana had 25.
The home team was overly generous at the start with four service errors and five hitting errors to help Kamehameha take a 12-5 lead. Wade finished with five kills and one ace, while Cabinian had three kills. Punahou finished with six service errors in set one.
Kamehameha got Wade going in the second set. He had seven kills while Punahou committed seven service errors. Cabinian came through with an ace and two blocks.
Clini stepped up with six kills and two blocks as Punahou took set three, overcoming 11 service errors. The Warriors led 25-24, but Punahou scored the next three points to avoid defeat. An ace by Colby Kitagawa and a kill by Haidar closed out the set.
Wade added seven more kills in the third.
Punahou then had its most efficient effort in the fourth set with just six service errors, staving off two match points — service errors by the Warriors.
“After we lost to Punahou the first time, we realized that we’re not really strong, so the next couple of weeks we worked on conditioning. We practiced five, six sets in a row,” Van Kuren said.
Now, a day off.
“I’m tired,” Van Kuren said.
Net notes
Moanalua is ranked No. 8 in the MaxPreps boys volleyball national poll. Na Menehune (21-2 overall) are right behind Beckman (Calif.), a team they beat at the Hawaii Invitational last month.
