Coach Sava Agpoon wants something close to perfection.
He will have to settle for mere advancement. Top-seeded Kamehameha got 17 kills from 6-foot-8 sophomore Kainoa Wade to sweep fourth-seeded Kamehameha-Hawaii 25-16, 25-15, 25-17 on Thursday in the semifinal round of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Boys Volleyball State Championships.
“We played these guys earlier in the year. We watched them yesterday. We knew if we played our game, we would win, and we did,” Wade said. “They’re a great team. Props to them.”
ILH champion Kamehameha (17-6 overall) will battle its rival, Punahou, for the state title tonight at Cannon Activities Center on the campus of BYU-Hawaii. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
“Game seven, 3-3,” Wade said of the Kamehameha-Punahou battles this spring. “We knew what we’ve got to do. They’re a great team, but if we play our game, we’ll come up with it.”
Wade hit .317 on a night when the Warriors faced a scrappy squad from the Keaau campus. Kamehameha hit .192 as a team, leaving Agpoon less than thrilled.
“It’s not really as crisp as I want it to be, just like yesterday. I don’t know what it is about this gym. They always have trouble with the lights and tracking the ball,” Agpoon said. “We’ve got to review for Punahou. The first time we beat them, we swept them. It’ll be a long day and a long drive (to Laie).”
Heston Cabinian added five kills and five digs, while Brayden Van Kuren tallied 21 assists. Brallen Hoopai-Waikoloa and Conor Williams added three kills apiece.
Nauhi Liwis led KS-Hawaii (17-3) with seven kills (.667). Micah Wana, who had 26 kills in a quarterfinal win over Mililani on Thursday, finished with five kills and nine hitting errors in 21 attempts (-.190) against Kapalama’s big wall, adding six digs. Kullen Pua (-.154) also had five kills with five digs.
Micah Mahuna had a team-high 19 assists. Makena Aiona-Agra led the BIIF champions with seven digs.
“We actually felt we did a good job scouting them,” KS-Hawaii coach Sam Thomas said. “Unfortunately, as far as our side of the net, we didn’t do what we needed to do. We knew Wade was going to hit those deep balls, come down the line. We kept our left back, back, so that we could dig those balls. We touched them, we just didn’t dig all of them.”
KS-Hawaii will play OIA champion Moanalua for third place at Canon.
“The kids actually want to play Moanalua. They’re aware of how many guns they have, and where these kids are heading to next year. I think it’s a challenge we want to see.”
Punahou’s five-set thriller against Moanalua could have an effect in the state final.
“Maybe they got more reps and more plays out of it. We didn’t get so many plays with our outsides and middles,” Agpoon said. “I’m hoping fatigue kicks in for them. Playing one five-setter alone is hard.”
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NEW CITY NISSAN HHSAA DIVISION I BOYS VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Friday
Semifinals
At Moanalua
Punahou def. Moanalua 25-22, 21-25, 20-25, 27-25, 15-11
Kamehameha def. Kamehameha-Hawaii 25-16, 25-15, 25-17
5th-Place Semifinals
At McKinley
Hilo def. KS-Maui, 25-16, 25-17
Mililani def. Roosevelt, 25-19, 25-16
NEW CITY NISSAN HHSAA DIVISION II BOYS VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Friday
Semifinals
At Radford
Saint Louis def. Aiea 25-13, 23-25, 25-19, 25-19
University Lab def. Waimea 25-21, 25-20, 25-18
5th-Place Semifinals
At Kalani
Radford def. Pahoa 25-19, 23-25, 15-9
Konawaena def. Molokai, 25-22, 25-16
