Punahou had CIF powerhouse Mira Costa on the ropes.

The Mustangs, led by setter Charlie Fuerbringer, did not flinch. Drew Wright came through with 13 kills, Tanan Rosenthal tallied eight kills and three aces, and Chloe Hynes added six kills as Mira Costa rallied for a 19-25, 25-14, 15-13 win over Punahou on Thursday at the Ann Kang Invitational Tournament.

Hot and humid conditions in the upper gym at ‘Iolani’s Father Bray Athletic Center didn’t seem to affect the visitors, a CIF Open Division powerhouse. Fuerbringer, a 6-foot-1 senior, committed to Wisconsin. She finished with 31 assists and four kills.

“That was a huge win for us. We know that Punahou is one of the best teams here, always, and defensively, one of the best teams we’re going to play all season,” Mira Costa coach Cam Green said. “We knew we were going to have to battle and win the long rallies. We talked about that and I thought we did a pretty good job of that. The first set, we made some errors and it kept them in the lead. We steadied out a little bit.”

Riding their momentum from the second set, the Mustangs had a 5-1 lead in Game 3. Punahou battled all the way back and took a 12-11 lead on Rella Moon Binney’s block on Rosenthal. After a service error by Punahou, setter Koen Makaula made a tough save on an errant pass, and Lulu Uluave’s push to the end line landed for a point, giving the Buffanblu a 13-12 lead.

From there, Hynes tied the game at 13 with a kill, and two hitting errors by Punahou handed the win to Mira Costa. Their small but boisterous following of roughly 30 fans celebrated with gusto.

Mira Costa improved to 3-0 in pool play. With eight teams in each pool, each team will have seven best-of-three round-robin pool matches. The top two squads in each pool will advance to the semifinals on Saturday.

Punahou is 2-1 after Thursday’s matches. Haumea Marumoto had six of her eight kills in the opening set, adding two blocks. Binney also had eight kills along with an ace and one block. Grace Fiaseu and Makaula combined for 17 assists.

“It’s very early. We played one great team. Their setter is the top in the nation and to compete the way we did I’m really happy. I can see our team has a lot of growth to make, which is promising,” Punahou coach Tita Ahuna said. “This is our fifth time in the gym together, so I’m very proud of them.”

The smaller Buffanblu opened the match with a 10-5 run and never trailed in Game 1. The second game was domination by Mira Costa, which got six kills and two aces from Rosenthal, and six kills from Wright, who may have the quickest swing in the tourney.

In earlier pool play, Sierra Canyon used six aces to defeat Le Jardin 26-24, 25-15. Olina Babcock led the Trailblazers with nine kills, including six kills without a hitting error in Game 2. Madeline Way had six kills and two aces, and Danica Rach added five kills and one ace. Sade Ilawole had 24 assists.

Sydnee Walker paced the Bulldogs with six kills, while Nicole Andersch had five. Outside hitter Reese Diersbock tallied five kills, two blocks and an ace. Gennezia Hawkins had a team-high 15 assists.

By Saturday’s semifinal round, every team will be worn down and digging for extra energy after seven matches.

“That’s going to take a toll on us physically, but I wanted our team have enough game experience and competition before we start the ILH season,” Ahuna said. “We’ve always been super grateful to Kainoa (Obrey, ‘Iolani coach) and ‘Iolani School for inviting us. This is a fantastic tournament.”

Nine of the 16 teams are from the mainland, including CIF Division I state champion Harvard-Westlake. Mira Costa went 28-9, including 9-0 in the Bay League, before losing in the CIF Open Division quarterfinals to eventual champion Marymount.