MILILANI, Hawaii — Moanalua seeks a return to old form. Kapolei would love to make some history.
Na Menehune and the Hurricanes meet at Mililani in Wednesday’s Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I girls volleyball final with contrasting histories in the sport.
OIA East winner Moanalua has won five OIA titles, most recently in 2017, and has rarely been excluded from the championship conversation. Kapolei, a co-leader out of the West, seeks its first title at the Division I level and second overall — it won in Division II back in 2008.
[Note: See below for more photos of the OIA Division I girls volleyball semifinals.]
Moanalua fell to Mililani in last year’s OIA final.
“It’s been a while since we did win the OIA, so it’s going to be something these girls have worked for,” said Na Menehune coach Alan Cabanting, who has nine seniors on his roster. “A lot of the girls have been with the program for three or four years now, so it would be really sweet for this senior group to go out with an OIA title.”
Na Menehune (12-0) swept through the regular season with one exception — Kalaheo pushed Moanalua to four. It looked like that might happen again Monday, but Na Menehune turned away a Mustang rally in the first and completed a 25-21, 25-14, 25-17 sweep.
“They pushed us hard, so we knew we had to come back and push even harder,” Moanalua setter Jayde Taamu-Perifano told Spectrum OC16’s Jimmy Bender.
“I think it’s our determination and how bad we want it,” said Taamu-Perifano, who had 17 assists, three digs and an ace. “This group of girls is special, and we know we’re right there and we can make it. So we’re going to push.”
Jerney Tang-Silva led Moanalua with 10 kills and 11 digs. Kaila Kalama-Bajet added nine kills, 15 assists and eight digs and Chloe Fukumitsu added eight kills.
Kalaheo got a well-rounded effort from Jadalynn Satele-Filifili (seven kills, eight assists, six digs, solo block) in the loss.
In Monday’s nightcap, Kapolei outlasted East runner-up Kahuku, 18-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-21, 15-4.
Senior hitter Leila Paraoan led the Hurricanes (11-1) with 20 kills, 12 digs, two blocks and an ace.
“It was exhilarating,” Paraoan told Bender after Kapolei rallied twice from a set down. “It was really hard. We had to put forth a lot of effort. We had to trust each other so much to come out with this. We wanted this so badly. I think that really pushed us to get where we are.”
Kapolei has won 11 straight matches after dropping its OIA opener against Mililani in five.
Senior Cha’lei Reid led Kahuku (10-2) with 22 kills and seven digs in the loss.
In Wednesday’s Division II final, Farrington (6-6) faces Castle (7-4) at 5:30 p.m. Farrington owns 10 OIA titles, with the last three in D-II classification (2007, 2012, 2015). Castle has three OIA titles with the last coming in 1989, well before the OIA split into two tiers.
The Division I final is scheduled for 7:30.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.