Punahou took its medicine, and had enough energy afterward to earn another trophy.
The Buffanblu shook off an embarrassing first set in the semifinals against Mater Dei to beat the Monarchs and then sweep Huntington Beach 25-15, 25-19 to win the Ann Kang Invitational volleyball tournament at ‘Iolani on Saturday.
"It slapped them right back down to Earth, maybe," Punahou coach Tanya Fuamatu-Anderson said. "It was a good lesson — we didn’t come in prepared and we paid for it. This is eight games in three days; that is a little taxing."
The Buffanblu repeated as champions of the tournament, the first Hawaii school to do so.
Punahou was far from perfect in getting to the championship match, losing its first set in the semifinals 25-12 to Mater Dei. The Monarchs held Remo Gaogao without a kill as the offense ran through McKenna Granato and Kelly Matthews. Punahou fought back to take a tight second set 25-23 but really showed its mettle in the third. Granato dominated the bigger Monarchs to help stake Punahou to a 10-2 lead, but Mater Dei refused to yield and tied it at 14-all before Punahou rallied to win 16-14. Granato led Punahou with 17 kills and Matthews added six.
Punahou was a lot different after that, taking Huntington Beach to school and beating it in straight sets. Gaogao led the way with 11 kills and Granato added seven. Not a bad start for the No. 1 Buffanblu, who lost the player of the year and coach of the year.
"It was a good start for us to get used to each other," Granato said. "I think (the loss) taught us how to work together and trust each other."
‘Iolani made a surprising run to the semifinals with a young team that has only two seniors and two juniors. The Raiders beat Mira Costa 15-25, 25-23, 15-12 to earn a date with undefeated Huntington Beach, then were swept 25-21, 25-18.
"We can play well," ‘Iolani coach Kainoa Obrey said. "We still need a lot of work, but it’s good to see that we can play like that. You never know, we can look real good and we can look like we need a lot of work."
The Raiders got it back together in the third-place game, beating Mater Dei.
It was the first taste of what the ILH might be like this year, and it looks as competitive as ever. Huntington Beach scrimmaged Kamehameha before the tournament and played both ‘Iolani and Punahou.
"Punahou, Kamehameha, ‘Iolani, they will all be around in the end," Huntington Beach coach Craig Pazanti said. "They can beat anybody."
Sage Hill took the Silver bracket over Mid-Pacific 26-24, 27-25 and St. Joseph’s won the Bronze bracket with a 25-20, 25-16 sweep of Windward (Calif.).
