HONOLULU — Just like any other year, Kamehameha has proved itself a force to be reckoned with in the HHSAA Division I girls volleyball tournament.
Only this time, it’s the Warriors from Hawaii Island making the noise.
Kamehameha-Hawaii stunned Punahou in a 25-12, 25-22, 27-25 sweep on Wednesday night at McKinley’s Student Council Gym, ensuring that for the first time since 2002, there will not be an all-Interscholastic League of Honolulu final.
An upset? Not according to veteran volleyball coach Guy Enriques, who is in his fourth year with the KSH girls. When his team ran the table in the prestigious SoCal Invitational in San Diego two weeks ago, he knew it could do some damage in states.
“Zero,” Enriques said in reply to a question about how surprised he was at the result. “I’ve seen it coming. The kids have faith in themselves. They know how good they are because it wasn’t a fluke. We didn’t lose a set up there. Just like here, we got pushed a little bit, but we’re there.”
Maela Honma put down 21 kills on 51 swings, hitting .314 to pace the Warriors, who advanced to face OIA champion Kahuku in Thursday’s 5 p.m. semifinal at Moanalua. The Red Raiders prevailed in a dramatic five-setter over league rival Moanalua preceding the stunning exit by the ILH’s runner-up team.
On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded Iolani and OIA runner-up Mililani advanced with sweeps of Kapolei and Baldwin. They will play following the KS-Hawaii and Kahuku match.
KS-Hawaii proved it could get it done three ways in the three sets Wednesday: via blowout, via narrow lead and via comeback from four points down.
Kamehameha-Hawaii announced itself immediately with a dominant first set in which it hit .406 to Punahou’s .000.
“I think it shows our confidence,” Honma said. “I mean, I bet Punahou didn’t think we’d come out like this. I think we surprised them a little, and that’s the best thing about the element of surprise.”
The Buffanblu were shellshocked. They played better from that point on, but not enough; no player reached double-digit kills.
“Kamehameha came to play. They came to play. They did a fantastic job,” Punahou coach Tita Ahuna said.
She said the Big Island Warriors were known to people on Oahu.
“Of course,” Ahuna said. “They went to the Durango (Fall Classic in September, and) they did well. You know, we just didn’t play our game tonight. But that was a great team.”
The Warriors from Keaau finished 19th in Durango, a couple of spots behind the flagship Kamehameha Kapalama Warriors, who until missing the state tournament this year, advanced to 18 straight state finals.
KS-Hawaii, unbeaten in BIIF play at 17-0, gained even more confidence when it went 7-0 in the SoCal Invitational on Oct. 7 and 8. It inspired them for the task ahead, Honma said.
The Warriors are using the same system Enriques taught the KS-Hawaii boys’ teams for many years, he said. They’re not the tallest team, but they stack the block effectively, serve well and run the middle. Taina Kaauwai, at 6-foot-1, was a force in the middle with 12 kills and six blocks.
“Our system is different. We don’t swing-block,” Enriques said. “We take things away, force you to hit to our diggers. It looks like it’s crazy defense, but it’s very simple.”
The Warriors rallied from a 19-16 deficit to take a 24-21 lead thanks to five kills from Honma. Punahou saved three match points and earned a 25-24 lead, but Kuamo‘o Kaleaokapuamakani put down a kill, and Kaauwai put the match away with consecutive strikes.
The 2002 state final featured Kahuku and St. Joseph and was won by Kahuku. A BIIF team last won the top level of state volleyball in 1974, when Hilo High prevailed.
Na Menehune, disappointed in their quarterfinal exit in the OIA tournament, resolved to keep on coming against their chief league rival.
They did repeatedly, only to fall two points short to the Red Raiders in a 25-19, 21-25, 26-24, 31-33, 15-13 epic at McKinley.
“We wanted to prove we were deserving of being in this state tournament,” Moanalua coach Alan Cabanting said. “I think with this five-set against Kahuku, a very physical team, we proved that. … (But) it just wasn’t our night.”
Kahuku hitter Mele Taumoepeau said the emotion afterward was equal parts excitement and relief as Kahuku advanced to its sixth semifinal in the last seven editions of the tournament.
“We have this thing where our coaches tell us to have a lion mentality,” said Taumoepeau, who had 14 kills and 23 digs. “And they just kept reminding us that’s what it took, especially when it was game points or we were up-and-up, or were in a slump or struggling. We always had to fight, come back and have that lion mentality.”
Middle Sidney Keni added 10 kills and seven blocks in the win.
Moanalua, which trailed 10-5 in the fifth, rallied one more time and went up at 13-12, only to see Kahuku score the game’s last three points on kills by Taumoepeau and Ma’o Lauhingoa followed by a Moanalua attack error.
Moanalua hitter Malu Garcia overcame several errors in the first few sets and was unstoppable in the marathon fourth set, when she put down seven kills on eight Kahuku match points. She had 15 of her 29 kills in the frame, including her last to earn set point for Na Menehune, and libero Natalie Fukumoto got it to a fifth frame with an ace.
“Remember the mission, remember why we’re here,” Kahuku coach Tuli Tevaga said she told her momentarily deflated team.
Tevaga, however, could appreciate Garcia’s unreal night.
“Isn’t she so awesome? She is a force to be reckoned with,” Tevaga said. “I did not expect any less from her.”
In the state Division II tournament, it’s an all-ILH affair as Le Jardin, Maryknoll, Hawaii Baptist Academy and Damien advanced to Thursday’s semifinals at Kalani High with respective wins over Hawaii Prep, Island School, Konawaena and Seabury Hall.
Hawaii Baptist faces Damien at 5 p.m., and ILH champ Le Jardin gets Maryknoll at 7.
Five different ILH schools have combined to win the last six D-II girls volleyball championships.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.