Punahou sweeps ‘Iolani
Punahou's Kelsey Yogi dug up a ball during the Buffanblu's victory over 'Iolani on Friday.
Punahou School Buff 'n Blue's Larry "Tui" Tuileta hits against 'Iolani School Raider's Hugh Hogland at a boys ILH volleyball game at Father Kenneth A. Bray Athletic Center at 'Iolani School on Friday, April 4, 2014.
Punahou School Buff 'n Blue's Micah Maa hits against 'Iolani School Raider's Erik Yamada, left, and Ikaika Phillip Samuel Mukai at a boys ILH volleyball game at Father Kenneth A. Bray Athletic Center at 'Iolani School on Friday, April 4, 2014.
Punahou School Buff 'n Blue's Kelsey Yogi saves a ball in a game against 'Iolani School Raider's at a boys ILH volleyball game at Father Kenneth A. Bray Athletic Center at 'Iolani School on Friday, April 4, 2014.
Punahou School Buff 'n Blue's Akahi Troske, left, and Trent Thompson block against 'Iolani School Raider's Preston Scott Kamada at a boys ILH volleyball game at Father Kenneth A. Bray Athletic Center at 'Iolani School on Friday, April 4, 2014.
Punahou School Buff 'n Blue's Trent Thompson blocks against 'Iolani School Raider's Preston Scott Kamada at a boys ILH volleyball game at Father Kenneth A. Bray Athletic Center at 'Iolani School on Friday, April 4, 2014.
Punahou School Buff 'n Blue's Micah Maa hits against 'Iolani School Raider's Erik Yamada, left, and Ikaika Phillip Samuel Mukai at a boys ILH volleyball game at Father Kenneth A. Bray Athletic Center at ''Iolani School on Friday, April 4, 2014.
The Punahou boys volleyball team hasn’t found a challenger in the ILH yet, but the Buffanblu expect to get all the test they want very soon.
Larry Tuileta had 10 kills and Punahou swept ‘Iolani 25-13, 25-17 on Friday to wrap up an undefeated ILH regular season.
Next up: the Clash of the Titans, which begins Friday at Hemmeter Fieldhouse.
The Buffanblu and Kamehameha-Hawaii will take turns facing California powers Mira Costa and Corona del Mar, both of which are ranked in the top five nationally.
Corona del Mar did what no Hawaii team has been able to do, beat Punahou, when it won 2-1 in the Best of the West tournament in California last month. No. 1 Punahou and No. 2 Kamehameha-Hawaii will not play each other, but they will certainly have their hands full.
"It’s going to be exactly like the name," Punahou coach Rick Tune said. "It’s going to be a battle; those teams are big and physical and they will bring it."
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The Buffanblu were never in trouble against ‘Iolani despite seven service errors. They countered that with seven aces.
Punahou scored the first six points of the first set and the first four of the second set and led the Raiders throughout. Tune said his team tries to achieve 70 percent success on jump serves and 90 percent success on regular serves.
"We have certain guys who have the green light," Tune said. "When they are stroking their jumpers they can score points in a hurry. We have way more errors than we want to have."
Seven different Buffanblu got kills on Friday, with Akahi Troske and Micah Ma‘a each putting down five. Taylor Wiens had three and Daniel Andrews, Rohan Watumull and Trent Thompson each got one.
It was Punahou’s fourth match in five days and the Buffanblu were feeling it a little bit.
"Every match is an opportunity to improve," Tune said. "Personally, I thought we played a little better (on Thursday night against Mid-Pacific), hopefully we can replicate what we did (Thursday night) and do it against those two California teams."
‘Iolani visits Kamehameha on Tuesday before hosting Mid-Pacific on Thursday.
