ILH champion Kamehameha garnered all 10 first-place votes to remain at No. 1 in the Star-Advertiser Girls Volleyball Top 10 this week.
The first eight teams in the coaches and media poll stayed put.
Kapolei opened the season at No. 10, eventually dropping out and re-entering two more times. The Hurricanes are at No. 9 this week after reaching the OIA semifinal round. Their highest ranking was No. 8 on Aug. 14.
Kamehameha missed the state tournament last year for the first time in 20 seasons. Coach Chris Blake has the Warriors’ 13-day gap planned out meticulously, as usual.
“We try to keep it fresh. We are looking to continually improve and challenge the team to refine and execute our skills. It provides an opportunity to process and time to review technical skills and to add the wrinkles in order to make our team better everyday,” he said. “We also have connected with other ILH Division II teams to have joint practices to get someone else into our gym to provide different looks.”
The state tournament was pushed back by a week to secure a larger venue after facilities in Honolulu became unavailable. The championship day of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Girls Volleyball State Championships will be played at Cannon Activities Center on the BYU-Hawaii campus.
The final of the boys volleyball state tournament was held there last spring. So were the state wrestling championships. Both events filled the arena.
For the top three girls volleyball teams in ILH Division II, the wait between regular season and the state tourney is almost an eternity: more than three weeks. Because the ILH’s top three D-II teams automatically qualified for the state tournament, they did not play in the league playoffs. League champion Mid-Pacific last played on Oct. 12, sweeping University in a tiebreaker match for the title.
The D-II state bracket begins on Nov. 6, but MPI has a bye and does not play until Nov. 8. That is a break of 27 days. University and Damien begin action on Nov. 6, a break of 25 days.
“It’s tough. I’ve never seen anything like this,” University coach and athletic director Walt Quitan said. “We were playing well at the end of the (ILH) season. Everyone else is in their playoffs. Four weeks off, it’s almost like a whole new season. Moving the state tournament back a week because of venue, that’s something that couldn’t be helped.”
Hawaii Baptist won the ILH’s fourth-place tournament on Saturday to secure the league’s final state berth. The Eagles’ break is a mere nine days.
“For us because we didn’t qualify in the top three, so we played in our tournament and that might help us,” HBA coach Myles Shioji said. “We talked about it. If we had the longer break we might have had to take a week off and ramp it back up, and that’s the hardest thing. There’s so many good teams in ILH D-II, and we’re fortunate to be one of the top four.”
The down time while other leagues play has its perks.
“You scout out opponents, scout the KIF final on YouTube. Watching a whole bunch of teams,” Shioji added. “I get the chance to scout a whole bunch of teams out. The girls get to see what’s coming.”
The break is timely for Damien.
“My coaching staff and I decided to give our athletes a week off to concentrate on finals, along with some rest and recovery.” Monarchs coach Dandi Holder said. “We had a few players who were battling colds and injuries. The following week, we started back up with conditioning and skill work. Going into this week, we will be running through rotations, game scenarios and mental preparation. “
Hawaii Prep is enjoying time off after a season of long bus rides. Ka Makani won the BIIF D-II title over Ka’u in five sets on Saturday.
“Now that we’re here, the break is a plus. We had two weeks off between our last game to the BIIF finals, so now we have time to catch our breath,” coach Daena Craven said. “We have things we can improve on, and we’ll come to Oahu next week.”
Star-Advertiser Girls Volleyball Top 10
Monday, Oct. 30, 2023
Rank School (1st) (record) Pts LW
1. Kamehameha (10) (27-4, 11-1 ILH reg. season) 100 1
> def. No. 2 Punahou 19-25, 25-16, 25-12, 25-14
> next: HHSAA (Nov. 8)
2. Punahou (27-5, 11-1 ILH reg. season) 88 2
> lost at No. 1 Kamehameha 19-25, 25-16, 25-12, 25-14
> next: HHSAA (Nov. 6)
3. Kamehameha-Hawaii (26-5, 12-0 BIIF reg. season) 78 3
> def. Keaau 25-11, 25-6, 25-19
> def. Waiakea 25-11, 25-20, 25-10
> next: HHSAA (Nov. 8)
4. Moanalua (27-7, 10-0 OIA reg. season) 69 4
> def. Leilehua 25-10, 25-15, 25-10
> next: vs. Kapolei, Monday, ,5:30 p.m.
> next: vs. TBD, Wednesday
5. ‘Iolani (22-10, 7-5 ILH reg. season) 49 5
6. Baldwin (16-7, 11-1 MIL reg. season) 42 6
> def. King Kekaulike 25-14, 25-16, 26-24
> def. Kamehameha-Maui 25-22, 25-20, 25-21
> next: HHSAA (Nov. 8)
7. Mililani (14-2, 8-0 OIA reg. season) 41 7
> def. Kahuku 25-20, 22-25, 25-21, 25-12
> next: vs. Roosevelt, Monday, 7:30 p.m.*
> next: vs. TBD, Wednesday
8. Mid-Pacific (11-10, 8-4 ILH reg. season) 28 8
> next: HHSAA D-II, Nov. 8
9. Kapolei (20-18, 9-1 OIA reg. season) 20 NR
> def. Kalani 25-18, 25-19, 25-22
> next: vs. Moanalua, Monday
> next: vs. TBD, Wednesday
10. Damien (15-8, 7-5 ILH reg. season) 13 9
> next: HHSAA D-II, Nov. 7
No longer in Top 10: University (No. 10)
Also receiving votes: University 12, KS-Maui 4, Roosevelt 4, Hawaii Baptist 1, Waiakea 1.
