The Mililani Trojans were hoping for a closer battle.
Instead, Kamehameha-Hawaii outside hitter Micah Wana was a complete destroyer of dreams. The 6-foot junior drilled 26 kills, adding an ace and nine digs as the third-seeded Warriors overwhelmed OIA runner-up Mililani 25-11, 16-25, 25-18, 25-20 in the quarterfinals of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Boys Volleyball State Championships.
“We feel pretty good. That’s a tough Mililani team we just beat. We were a little nervous,” Warriors coach Sam Thomas said. “Micah Mahuna, our setter, did a great job spreading the ball out until Micah Wana got incredibly hot. We wanted to keep riding that horse.”
A pro-Mililani crowd saw their Trojans stay close for roughly two-and-a-half sets. However, the Trojans never found a cure for Wana, who finished with only five hitting errors and hit .538.
“It was hard to stop No. 30. The kid just did an incredible job. He was physical. He was producing from the outside. He was producing from the back row,” Mililani coach Gabriel Maunupau said. “I think we were a little hesitant, not used to seeing that kind of attack except from a kid like Kai (Rodriguez) from Moanalua. He put a lot of pressure on us to make tough decisions, and be dynamic.”
Kamehameha-Hawaii (17-2 overall) will face second-seeded Kamehameha in the semifinal round tonight at Moanalua’s gym. When the teams met at the Hawaii Invitational two months ago, Kapalama won 25-14, 25-17 in pool play.
“I’m looking forward to it. We had a hard time just getting into our system. Going back home and getting the BIIF title definitely helped us get us into the right frame of mind,” Wana said. “We definitely got better.”
Kullen Pua tallied 14 kills with three aces for the Warriors. Middle Nainoa Paio chipped in six kills, while Mahuna dished out 48 assists and had eight digs. Makena Aiona-Agra led KS-Hawaii with 15 digs.
Manase Fetulimoeata and Tyler Duranceau had 11 kills each for Mililani, which hit .132 as a team. Carson Nakamura had 33 assists. Fetulimoeata had a team-high nine digs, which Trevin Matsuba tallied eight digs and four of his team’s six aces.
“Bittersweet. I mean, so many opportunities,” Maunupau added. “We played well in a lot of ways, but also made some unforced, critical errors that pushed the momentum on the side. It’s a tough loss. We expected a little more out of ourselves. We pressured out in a couple of moments and that’s life with these young kids. They’re still maturing and it’s OK.”
The Trojans will play Roosevelt in a consolation match at 7 p.m. today at McKinley Student Council Gym.
In the first two sets, hitting errors plagued the team on the ewa side of McKinley. Mililani had nine hitting errors and was completely out of Set 1. Then the teams switched benches and KS-Hawaii struggled in Set 2.
Two aces by Matsuba gave the Trojans and early 12-6 lead that they never relinquished.
Set 3 was even at 11 when KS-Hawaii went on a decisive 10-3 run.
“Before we came down, we had a pregame talk and I talked to them about a defining moment,” Thomas said. “When that timeout happened in the third set, I said, how are we going to define ourselves now? They really rose to the occasion. It was just a matter of us being in the third game more sure-handed with the ball.”
Wana was nearly unstoppable with 10 kills as the Warriors took a 2-1 edge.
“Once we got those good passes, it started to get us good looks,” Wana said.
The fourth set was close until the Warriors went on a 6-1 run to open their lead to 19-13. That included aces by Aiona-Agra and Kalena Launiu.
The Trojans got within 19-18 after a block by Nakamura, but the Warriors answered. Mililani had a net violation, followed by a Wana kill, a Duranceau hitting error, a left-handed kill by Paio and a hitting error by Fetulimoeata.
Wana’s final kill put the match away.
There will be mandatory study hall for KS-Hawaii before the semifinal match. There won’t be any beach or mall time for the Big Island champs, not yet.
“I wish,” Wana said. “It’s go home, rest, get our bodies back in order and study film.”
Moanalua 3, Hilo 0
Top-seeded Moanalua (34-3 overall) needed just 1 hour and 9 minutes to sweep the BIIF runner-up Vikings 25-11, 25-13, 25-15. Justin Todd pounded 11 kills (.500) and Zack Yewchuk added nine kills (.571). Outside hitter Kai Rodriguez had a light workload, with just two kills in four swings. Cody Bonilla added seven kills (.700), while Malu Wilcox had 17 assists and AJ Matsumoto tallied 16 assists.
Kaden Sato hustled for a team-high eight digs in Moanalua’s homecourt win.
Maluhia Tandal led Hilo (4-5) with nine kills, while Peyton Pana and S-D Wilbur-Gabriel added five each.
Moanalua is ranked No. 3 in the USA Today Super 25 national rankings.
Na Menehune will face ILH runner-up Punahou in the semifinals. Game time is 5 p.m. at Moanalua. When the teams met for the championship of the Clash of the Titans on Apr. 8, Punahou won a thriller, 25-23, 30-32, 27-29, 25-23, 15-10 at Hemmeter Fieldhouse.
Kamehameha 3, Roosevelt 0
Kainoa Wade had 14 kills (.357) and Heston Cabinian (.579) added 12 as the ILH champion Warriors (16-6 overall) swept the Rough Riders 25-10, 25-17, 25-14.
“We’re playing against teams that we don’t have that much footage on,” Kamehameha coach Sava Agpoon said. “It’s a challenge, but it’s a little easier with ILH because we’re playing each other so much. Roosevelt has a pretty good defense and some pretty smart hitters.”
Conor Williams chipped in seven kills as the Warriors hit .366 against the OIA’s third-place team.
Wade, a 6-8 sophomore, also pounded three aces and had a team-high nine digs.
Brayden Van Kuren dished 28 assists.
Ford Lyons led Roosevelt (12-4) with seven kills. Danny Lieu had 19 assists and Jonathan Yadao tallied a team-high five digs.
Kamehameha plays KS-Hawaii on Friday in the semifinals. It has been two months since the teams met at the Hawaii Invitational.
“We already saw a couple of things different. All our players are ready to revisit the footage,” Agpoon said. “They were all taking notes on everything they saw. KS-Hawaii is a different team now. We want to make sure we’re playing our game.”
Punahou 3, KS-Maui 0
Kahale Clini pounded 13 kills (.579) as the Buffanblu swept the fourth-seeded Warriors. Evan Porter and Ian Kinney tallied seven kills each, and Afatia Thompson added six as the Buffanblu beat the Warriors 25-16, 25-17, 25-13.
Kanalu Akana dished 20 assists and Elijah Smith had 17.
Dylan Schnitzer led KS-Maui (11-4) with seven kills. Po‘o Aiu had 13 assists and Makaha Pang had a team-high five digs.
ILH runner-up Punahou (16-5 overall) will take on top-seeded Moanalua in a 5 p.m. semifinal at Moanalua. The teams played on Apr. 8 for the Clash of the Titans title, which Punahou won 25-23, 30-32, 27-29, 25-23, 15-10.
Division II
University 3, Pahoa 0
Koa Laboy had 15 kills and Trey Ambrozich added 13 as the top-seeded Junior Rainbows advanced with a 25-17, 25-20, 25-19 sweep of Pahoa at Radford’s James Alegre Gymnasium.
Micah Nakasato chipped in six kills and Todd McKinney had four for University (10-0). Kawehi Kaneakua dished 37 assists and added nine digs. Ambrozich, a 6-foot-6 sophomore, had a team-high 10 digs.
Hunter Paio led the Daggers (13-2) with five kills. Kailen Kamakeeaina added four kills and three digs, and Uasi Tokiau tallied three kills and four digs. Jheyden Haili had a team-high nine assists with five digs.
ULS will play Waimea in the semifinal round at Radford. Game time is 7 p.m.
Pahoa will meet Radford at Kalani’s gym in a 5 p.m. consolation match.
Aiea 3, Molokai 1
At Kalani, OIA D-II runner-up Aiea knocked out second-seeded Molokai 25-22, 24-26, 25-22, 25-23 to advance.
Reace Watkins led Na Alii (9-5) with 19 kills and added 16 digs, while Sila Unutoa and Andrew Kunst tallied 10 kills each. Levi Harada-Suaava amassed 38 assists and 10 digs, and Marcus Tuaanuu had five kills and a team-high 22 digs.
Jericho Adolpho led the Farmers (6-1) with 16 kills. Drayden Garces chipped in 12 kills and two aces. Wesley Delacruz dished 33 assists.
Aiea will meet the Saint Louis at Radford at 5 p.m. Molokai will play Konawaena at Kalani at 7 p.m.
Saint Louis 3, Konawaena 0
Sophomore Pupu Sepulona had 11 kills and Trhijton James Setik tallied 10 kills as the ILH D-II runner-up swept the third-seeded Wildcats 25-17, 25-10, 25-19.
Rex Paguirigan had 28 assists and Carson Lee had a team-high 17 digs.
Rheneer Romano led Konawaena (12-2) with five kills and 24 digs. Travis Nakamoto had 12 assists.
Saint Louis (11-2) will play Aiea in a 5 p.m. semifinal at Radford.
Waimea 3, Radford 2
David Tsuchiya had 14 kills, 23 assists and 17 digs as the KIF champions advanced with a 25-22, 28-26, 23-25, 22-25, 15-8 win over the Rams.
Haweo Akeo tallied 14 kills and eight digs, Josiah Banasihan had 11 kills, 29 assists and 12 digs, and Kelani Lewis had 11 kills. Matteo Medina had a team-high 27 digs for Waimea.
Kainalu Shiraishi led Radford (9-4) with 12 kills, adding 10 digs. Keahi Kaneakua added 10 kills, 21 assists and eight digs, and Robert Dilks tallied eight kills, 27 assists and 13 digs. Isaac Guerrero chipped in 10 kills and 12 digs.
Waimea will play top seed University in a 7 p.m. semifinal at Radford.
