PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii — The incursions were frequent, and the warnings were issued nearly as often.
Kahuku’s rowdy student section spilled onto the court in Jim Alegre Gymnasium after just about every big Red Raider point in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I girls’ volleyball championship Wednesday night against Mililani.
Every point was seemingly huge, but none were bigger than three match points saved by Kahuku in Set 4 to lay the groundwork for a winner-take-all Set 5.
The defending champs survived more tense points to repeat with a 21-25, 25-17, 21-25, 27-25, 15-12 epic victory for the OIA’s seeded berth into next week’s HHSAA tournament.
It was a night of two dramatic five-setters at Radford High. Preceding the Division I match, Waialua came back to beat Kailua for the D-II crown and the Bulldogs’ first OIA girls' volleyball title at any classification.
Kahuku was issued the No. 2 seed by the HHSAA committee, on the opposite side of the bracket from top-seeded Iolani, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu champ.
“I think it says that we can hang with the big dogs,” Red Raiders coach Tuli Tevaga said of surviving the 2 ½-hour marathon. “I can’t even think right now. They’ve done so well and I’m so proud of them. I want them to live in this moment, remember this fight, and take it with them to the state tournament.”
Sophomore hitter Cha’lei Reid was the workhorse with a game-high 21 kills on 50 swings (.280 hitting), while Mele Taumoepeau supplied 15 kills and just one error on 32 swings (.438) with 12 digs. Middle Ma’o Lauhingoa added 12 kills and four blocks.
Reid, a big reason why the Red Raiders are 2-for-2 in OIA titles to begin her high school career, committed an attack error to give the Trojans triple match point at 24-21 in the fourth.
When Lauhingoa came back with a kill, Reid, with the Kahuku overflow crowd within arm’s reach at the edge of the court, stepped back to make her biggest serves to date. She was on the mark when it mattered and Kahuku got two kills and a block riding her serve to even it at 25. Kahuku capped the 7-1 run to take the set on Maia Esera’s kill.
“It’s a lot of pressure, but we’re still in the game so I just kind of got to block them (the crowd) out. But I still really love them and all their support,” Reid said of her service run as members of the Red Raiders football team prepared to perform a haka behind her.
“She has proven that she can handle the pressure,” Tevaga said.
Libero Hehea Pulotu was huge in keeping rallies alive with her 18 digs, especially in the fifth set.
The Red Raiders jumped out to an 8-3 lead, saw the Trojans claw back to 9-7 then tie the match at 12 on a stuff by star Alexis Rodriguez.
Reid went through the block for kills on either side of a Rodriguez error to end it and the Red Raiders’ students stormed the floor.
Dani Kapu (15 assists) assumed some setter duties from the third set on as Tevaga sought to switch up the game’s momentum.
Mililani’s go-to player, Rodriguez, attained 20 kills with eight errors on 64 swings (.188) while Erica Roberts added 14 kills. Trojans setter Anae Asuncion had 43 assists and 11 digs and libero LC Nakagawa dug 20 balls.
The Trojans fell behind early in all five sets, came back each time and were within sight of their fifth OIA title since 2011, only to fall excruciatingly short. They will open the HHSAA tournament at home against Leilehua on Monday, needing to win four times in four days to take home the crown.
“We needed to finish in the fourth set. We needed to finish that,” Mililani coach Val Crabbe said. “It’s a game of momentum. Once the momentum swings, it’s tough. You gotta stay with it. Proud of them, they showed a lot of heart tonight.”
Waialua breaks through
In the D-II final, the Waialua Bulldogs did something never before accomplished in their small North Shore community.
By coming back from a set down to defeat Kailua, 25-16, 23-25, 11-25, 25-13, 15-12, they have their first volleyball trophy, girls or boys, in any division.
“Loss for words. Totally loss for words,” coach Bronson Chun said. “We’re so happy. Small town, big hearts. It means everything to us, to show everybody what we can do out there. Show the state, everybody, that no matter what the odds are, we can do it. We can get through it.”
Chun said his team needed to recover from a litany of self-inflicted errors in a woeful third set — and they did.
Kailua, seeking its first OIA volleyball title since 1981, led 23-22 in Set 4 looking to put the match away, only for Kailia Phillips to put down two kills among three straight Waialua points to extend the match.
In Set 5, the Surfriders led 10-9, only to see the Bulldogs ride Phillips’ tough serves to a 5-0 run. Kailua staved off two match points before a service error ended it.
“We served effectively, we served tough,” Chun said. “It just put the ball back on their side, and they had a harder time passing the ball and that gave us the edge on that.”
Phillips was named the OC16 Impact Player of the Game with 12 kills and nine digs. Alohi Garcia had a team-high 15 kills on .184 hitting and 11 digs.
Just nine Waialua players played.
Ashlyn Tai led the Surfriders with 20 kills and nine digs.
The Division II HHSAA tournament bracket will be released later this week.
Some more photos of the two matches:
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.