Only a prophet could have known that Saint Louis’ first-ever volleyball state championship would be won near the shores of Laie.
Trhijton James Setik and Pupu Sepulona pounded 15 kills each as Saint Louis stunned top-seeded University 25-22, 17-25, 25-21, 25-19 to capture the New City Nissan/HHSAA Boys Volleyball Division II State Championship on Saturday night at Cannon Activities Center on the BYU-Hawaii campus.
“We came in here with a mindset that we’re going to play our hardest, play on the ground, hit the ball everywhere. We’re going crazy ’cause we’re dogs,” said Setik, who also had 10 digs and one ace.
He fueled up while Saint Louis fans brought energy. “I like to get hyped. It makes me a better player. It makes me play invincible.”
Saint Louis coach Keenan Paulos had three hours of sleep the night before the final.
“I had a dream we were going to win. In the state tournament last year, we were the No. 1 seed and all the expectations in the world and we came up short,” Paulos recalled. “I told them, ‘Hey, we’ve got to be dogs. Trust each other and believe.’”
Sepulona played through a finger injury and became part of a second state-championship team for Saint Louis, which took the D-I basketball crown in February.
“Throughout the season, we got better and improved. The first game was kind of wacky, but now we’re together. We became a family. Our brotherhood is culture at Saint Louis,” Sepulona said. “Everybody knows Saint Louis as a football school, but I feel like we proved everybody wrong in the state — not just basketball, but volleyball. We made a statement today.”
Carson Lee added 12 kills, while Rex Paguirigan dished 50 assists for Saint Louis (13-2), the ILH D-II runner-up.
Lee also had a team-high 15 digs, while Blaize Arakawa tallied 11 digs and Setik had 10.
Koa Laboy led ULS (11-1) with 20 kills in 50 swings. Micah Nakasato added 14 kills, while Kawehi Kaneakua dished 37 assists. Kenna Quitan had a team-high 16 assists.
The teams met twice during the ILH season. ULS won 25-22, 26-24, 25-12 and topped the Crusaders in the league title match 25-18, 25-19, 22-25, 22-25, 15-12.
“I tell them all the time, when you’re focused on outcomes like winning a set or a point, you get so down on yourself when it doesn’t happen. You focus on the process, doing things the right way,” Paulos said. “We came in early, had a team lunch. We had a prayer service. The faculty and staff were amazing. They blessed us the entire way.”
The opening set turned in Saint Louis’ direction with a 3-0 run for a 19-16 lead. The Junior ’Bows came back to tie it at 19, 21 and 22 as Laboy racked up six kills. However, Laboy had two hitting errors, and after a hitting error by Todd McKinney, the Crusaders took a 1-0 lead in the match, benefiting from seven hitting errors and three service errors by ULS.
Set 2 was much more efficient for the Junior ’Bows. The bonus of aces from Ethan Blas and Micah Nakasato helped them open a 16-11 lead. ULS continued to stretch the lead until it was 24-15. A hitting error by Saint Louis middle Richard Lee ended the set. The Junior ’Bows had just three hitting errors in the second.
Momentum shifted back to Saint Louis in the third game. After Laboy amassed 11 kills in the first two sets, he struggled with three hitting errors. Paguirigan spread the wealth, feeding Lee (three kills), Setik (four kills) and Sepulona (three kills).
That balance helped the Crusaders turn a 12-11 lead into a 23-17 lead. Lee finished the set with a slam.
From there, the Crusaders were in peak form, zooming to an 8-4 lead and never trailing in Set 4. Sepulona roofed Laboy as Saint Louis opened the lead to 15-8.
ULS cut into the margin, but Setik came up with a kill and an ace to open the lead to 23-16, bringing the Crusaders faithful to their feet. ULS made a final run, but Sepulona roofed Laboy again and pounded a back-row kill to give Saint Louis its first volleyball crown.
For Paulos, a Saint Louis alum, bringing the koa trophy home for volleyball caused him to pause and choke up.
“It means the most. My dad, my grandpa, all the brotherhood in red, now working at Saint Louis, being a part of the school, it’s what we preach about: being a Saint Louis man,” he said. “I told our guys, you have to do this for them. It’s not for us. It’s really about the culture. It’s really about what we’ve instilled since day one. I’m so proud of them.”
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Third-Place Game
Waimea def. Aiea 25-18, 25-12
Fifth-Place Game
Radford def. Konawaena 25-22, 25-14
