Evan Porter and Ian Kinney had seven kills each as Punahou swept Leilehua 25-17, 25-17, 25-17 on Monday to advance in the New City Nissan/HHSAA Boys Volleyball State Championships.
ILH runner-up Punahou (15-5 overall) will battle MIL champion Kamehameha-Maui at 7 p.m. Thursday at Moanalua.
A modest gathering of 150 at Hemmeter Fieldhouse saw Punahou stay ahead of the visiting Mules from start to finish. Porter added two aces, while Kahale Clini had six kills and one block, and middle Adam Haidar tallied six kills in seven swings, adding one block. Middle James Taras chipped in four kills in six swings.
Coach Rick Tune used his reserves much more than usual. Setters Kanalu Akana (17 assists, one ace) and Elijah Smith (14 assists, one ace) shared time with Tyson Brady Kikuchi (five assists, one ace).
Brody Badham and Hunter Erickson added three kills apiece.
“It’s always good to get one under your belt after a loss. I think the guys felt the same way. It’s good to get everybody in,” Tune said. “Leilehua is a good, quality team and we’re just happy to be able to move on. I’m really proud with the way we all responded. Usually when you get in the state tournament, nerves are going and I think the guys who came in, maybe had a couple of little bumps, but for the most part they just picked up where the starters left off.”
Ghreysen Scully led Leilehua with seven kills. Christian Johansen added four kills and one ace.
“Punahou is a good team. They’re consistent. They kept us out of system and we couldn’t get them out of system,” Leilehua coach Larry Cantero said. “I wish I had more time with our team. These kids didn’t have a year with the COVID year, so it was hard.”
Jase Yee-Madrona had a team-high seven assists and Khendel Scully tallied three kills and six assists. The Mules competed but couldn’t get their service game going. They had one ace to go with 13 service errors, and hit .044 for the match.
“These kids know my goal is we go all out. Against teams like this, we’ve got to try to get them out of system somehow. If they’re going to shove it down our throats because we serve it soft, then it defeats the purpose of us serving,” Cantero said.
Leilehua has momentum building under Cantero.
“We’re losing a lot of players. The plan is to get in the weight room, get stronger, and try to compete with the bigger, taller teams.”
Kamehameha-Maui is a mystery of sorts, but Tune and his staff have their scouting report.
“We prep for every team. We give them a ton of respect,” he said. “They’re the Maui champion for a reason. They’re the No. 4 seed for a reason. We have to go in there and earn it and prove it.”
Also on Thursday, host and top seed Moanalua plays Hilo in a 5 p.m. matchup. At McKinley, Monday’s Mililani-Kahuku winner will play BIIF champion Kamehameha-Hawaii in a 5 p.m. battle. Second-seeded Kamehameha will face Roosevelt, which won at Lahainaluna 22-25, 25-12, 25-17, 25-21 on Monday, in a 7 p.m. match.
Roosevelt 3, Lahainaluna 1
Making back-to-back appearances in the state tournament for the first time since 2010, the Rough Riders (11-3) got a match-high 14 kills from Ford Lyons, and Yu-Tang Hsu added 10 kills and eight digs to beat the host Lunas 22-25, 25-12, 25-17, 25-21.
Justin Toyama chipped in nine kills and tied for team-high honors with 13 digs to push Roosevelt into a quarterfinal matchup against No. 2 seed Kamehameha at McKinley on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Kuha’o Murray led Lahainaluna (9-5) with nine kills but needed 45 swings. Lahainaluna hit negative as a team for the match.
Hilo 3, Kaiser 1
Maluhia Tandal led three Vikings in double figures with 14 kills and setter Kanoa Pana finished with match highs of 36 assists and four aces to go along with nine digs, three kills and three block assists in a 23-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-17 win over the Cougars.
Sheydin Wilburgabrie added 11 kills an Kaiwalya Kaneta hit .400 with 10 kills, two aces and three block assists for Hilo (11-4), which advances to play No. 1 seed and host Moanalua in the first quarterfinal on Thursday at 5 p.m. Akira Davis hit .300 and led all hitters with 18 kills in 40 swings for the Cougars (11-5).
Mililani 3, Kahuku 0
Kapena Kanucch hit .260 with 12 kills and Crisostomo Ibarra finished just short of a double-double with 17 assists and nine digs to lead the Trojans over the Red Raiders 25-18, 25-16, 25-15.
Manase Fetulimoeata added eight kills and eight digs and Carson Nakamura served two of the five aces by the Trojans (13-1), who advance to play No. 3 seed Kamehameha-Hawaii in the first quarterfinal at McKinley on Thursday at 5 p.m.
Leonard Ah You had eight kills and an ace to lead Kahuku (11-5).
