It wasn’t so long ago when Aiea knocked Kaiser off at a preseason tournament.
On Tuesday night, it was Kaiser that looked like a postseason powerhouse. Senior Issa Anderson pounded 12 kills, and junior Casey Bolda and sophomore Christian Sele blasted 11 kills each as the Cougars swept Aiea 25-21, 25-17, 25-17 at Roosevelt’s gym in the opening round of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red Conference playoffs.
The elimination match lifted Kaiser (8-4) into the league’s double-elimination playoff format. Aiea closed the season at 7-4.
"I feel pretty good. We didn’t know how we were going to do," Cougars coach Jon Stanley said. "We’ve had ups and downs, but we’re hoping we keep winning."
Kaiser plays Moanalua on Thursday.
"The pressure’s on them. They’re pretty good and we’ll see what we can do," Stanley said.
Junior setter Riker Kasamoto delivered 34 assists to his array of hitters at the left, middle and right to keep Aiea’s smaller front line off balance.
Faausu "Samson" Maeva, a 5-foot-9 senior, led coach Erin Okamoto-Coker’s squad with 13 kills. Quentin Montgomery, another senior, added nine kills, while senior Dylan Yukimoto tallied seven kills and 18 assists.
As a team, Aiea hit well (.386), but unforced errors were crucial. Na Alii also had no aces with four service errors.
Kaiser hit .409 and had seven aces with seven service errors.
Aiea rallied from an 8-1 deficit to pull within 19-18 in the opening set. Anderson, a 5-11 outside hitter, then had two kills as the Cougars closed the set with a 6-2 run.
With Jon Wallen serving, Kaiser had a 4-0 run early in the second set to take control. Aiea rallied to within 17-15 but got no closer despite hitting .474 in the game.
Aiea’s frustration mounted in the third set and Kaiser was never threatened. Still, for a team with only one year-round club player (Yukimoto), Na Alii had a solid season.
Kaiser has just two club players, Bolda said. He plans to play in the offseason for the first time.
"We brought all our heart and focus. We’ve been working really hard on our defense," said Bolda, who also had two aces. "We’re more aggressive right now than we were in preseason. We’re way better than we were before."
Moanalua, ranked No. 6 in the Star-Advertiser Top 10, won at Kaiser 25-12, 25-15 last Thursday.
"Moanalua is one of the toughest teams. They’ve got a lot of club players and a mean defense," Bolda added. "They’re just scrappy."
In the late match, Mililani hung on for a 25-16, 12-25, 25-20, 27-25 win over host Roosevelt. The Trojans (6-5) will face Waipahu, the regular-season second-place team in the Red West. Roosevelt closed the season at 8-4.
"These guys worked hard. They deserved to win," first-year Mililani head coach Christian Perry said. "Our record might not show it, but this is a really talented team. We have young players and a balance of experienced players."
The Trojans struggled against Waipahu in a regular-season meeting last week.
"Last time, we didn’t show up and they had their way with us, but we’re riding momentum and a lot of confidence now," said Perry, who was an assistant for seven seasons.
