Michael Fisher is not going to have to carry the load for Hawaii Baptist like he is at the Hawaii Boys Volleyball Invitational, but the Eagles like knowing he can if he has to.
Fisher pounded down 26 kills and Hawaii Baptist beat Van Nuys (Calif.) 25-20, 23-25, 15-10 to reach the semifinals of the tournament at ‘Iolani for the second straight year. The Eagles lost to Kamehameha-Hawaii in the semifinals last year and get a chance to advance as far as they ever have with a win over Maryknoll at 2 p.m. today in the lower gym. The Spartans beat Na Menehune 25-16, 29-27.
Punahou and ‘Iolani meet in the other semifinal at 12:45 p.m., with the final scheduled for 3:15.
After Westview of San Diego won last year’s tournament to become the first mainland school to do so, this year’s final four consists of four ILH schools, thanks in large part to Hawaii Baptist. The Eagles beat Santa Monica, Calif., in their final game of pool play on Friday and have not lost to a mainland school in the tournament since falling to Crespi in the quarterfinals in 2010.
But they didn’t have the horse they have now. Fisher has to carry an added load since fellow starting hitters Jordan Kauwe and Micah Aweau are missing the tournament because of a school trip to Japan.
"Mike’s got to come through no matter how many blockers they throw up," Hawaii Baptist coach Teoni Obrey said. "He is getting better and better and it is cool to see."
Fisher had 10 of his team’s 12 kills in the first set but was held to four in the second set while his team fell behind 21-16. He reeled off five kills to tie it at 22-all, but the Wolves contained him enough to pull out a 25-23 win. In addition to blasting the ball to the floor over and over, Fisher was tasked with receiving nearly every serve.
"I’ve never seen a player just dominate a game that much," Van Nuys coach Reynald Garcia said. "We were up comfortably in that second set and all of a sudden he just comes back roaring from that back row and starts killing us."
They wouldn’t contain him in the third set. Fisher had seven of his team’s nine kills and blew open a 9-8 game to win 15-10. Fisher had four kills in the run and committed only two errors in the match.
