The Kai Rodriguez masterclass was nearly flawless and absolutely clutch.
The 6-foot-3 outside hitter had 17 kills and six aces as Moanalua swept Mililani 25-11, 25-22, 25-21 to capture the OIA boys volleyball championship on Wednesday night at James Alegre Gymnasium. It is the ninth OIA boys title under coach Alan Cabanting.
“I feel really good. They were able to overcome some really tough obstacles that Mililani threw our way,” Moanalua coach Alan Cabanting said. “Mililani served really tough. JT (Todd) got flustered a little bit in the second set when they really started attacking him, so it’s nice he was able to come back and take more passes. Kai did amazing today. Because the passing wasn’t that great, we had to rely on the outsides a little bit more.”
Rodriguez had 32 total attempts with only one hitting error late in the match. On Monday, in a sweep of Leilehua, he had 22 kills in 25 attempts without a hitting error.
“I was just getting on top of it. I was hitting it as hard as I could,” Rodriguez said. “Yeah, that’s definitely the best I’ve served this year. It’s the championship, got me hyped. I was feeling good, feeling ready. Muscles feeling good.”
Justin Todd tallied 13 kills, two aces and one block, while middle Keola Demello chipped in three kills and three blocks. Jaycen Bush added six kills. Setters Malu Wilcox and AJ Matsumoto dished 20 assists each.
“Mililani wanted it as badly as we did,” Rodriguez added. “Definitely our setters have improved so much. Our oppos, our middles, have gotten so much better over the season.”
Moanalua (31-3, 14-0) will have the OIA’s top seed and an opening-round bye at the New City Nissan/HHSAA Boys Volleyball State Championships on May 8, 11-13.
Manase Fetulimoeata led the Trojans (12-1 OIA) with eight kills. Ethan George tallied four kills, two blocks and one ace, and Pihana Like, Tyler Duranceau and Dayne Rego chipped in three kills each.
Carson Nakamura dished 13 assists and Kaleo Della Sala had nine assists and one kill. Outside hitter Evan Foki missed another match due to a knee injury. Balance was a must for Moanalua against the resilient Trojans. Moanalua is ranked No. 8 in the USA Today Super 25.
“We brought out a little more power on the outside where Ethan did a phenomenal job against Roosevelt (on Monday). He stepped up,” Mililani coach Gabriel Maunupau said. “It’s hard because of a couple of mistakes. We get those kills, you never know. But again, someone like Kai serving 11 jump serves with that kind of pace, it’s hard to stop. Our team, from Roosevelt until now, I’m so proud of our kids. It’s nothing but happiness for me as a coach.”
Moanalua began the match in alpha mode, turning a 13-10 lead into a runaway. Rodriguez had five kills and three aces to ignite Na Menehune.
In set two, he had six kills to go with three aces, and Todd had five kills an ace as Moanalua rallied from a 17-12 deficit with a 13-5 run.
Mililani led the third set 9-6 before Moanalua again caught fire. Bush had four kills in the final set, while Demello added two kills and two blocks.
