Moanalua is in the state championship match.
Na Menehune rallied for a 26-28, 25-21, 20-25, 25-20, 16-14 win over Kamehameha before a raucous crowd of roughly 1,000 at Moanalua’s gym. Moanalua will face top-seeded Punahou for the Division I title of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Boys Volleyball State Championships on Friday night.
Keanu Kawaa led a Moanalua attack that required more contributions across the board against a resilient Kamehameha defense. The 6-foot-4 senior finished with 30 kills in a whopping 85 attempts. He also had eight digs and one block.
“It’s amazing. The crowd helped us a lot, bringing our energy up when our energy was down, even when we were losing,” Kawaa said. “The crowd was our biggest supporting cast today.”
Christian Tafao added 13 kills and a team-high 16 digs, while Cody Bonilla (five kills, three digs), Jayce Bush (four kills, two digs) and setters AJ Matsumoto (24 assists, 11 digs) and Malu Wilcox (21 assists, one ace, 12 digs) kept the rallies going for Moanalua (15-0).
Logan Ho’s three kills proved to be especially valuable against a tenacious Kamehameha block that focused on Kawaa and Tafao.
“We’ve just got to fight. When we see ourselves down in the score, we start to fight harder,” Kawaa said. “Losing is something we hate. Every time that happens, we play amazing.”
Tafao showed much more patience and a willingness to hit off the block on Friday. The long rallies, sparked in large part by libero Kaden Sato (14 digs), matched Kamehameha’s endurance. Kawaa had just three kills in the second set, while Tafao had four as Moanalua began its comeback.
“We watched film all this week, so (Tafao) is just trying to use the block. Go into the block, go off their hands, then try and work around the block,” Kawaa said.
Kamehameha’s dream of facing rival Punahou in the state final is no more.
“Somebody has to lose, somebody has to win. Our seniors had their last chance to go for it,” Kamehameha coach Sava Agpoon said. “It came down to who was serving.”
Longtime Moanalua coach Alan Cabanting has been to the state final before.
“If they can take care of the serve and keep them out of system and get Keanu going, it’s going to be a good battle,” he said. “
Kamehameha appeared to have some control with an 8-5 lead after a block by Miller, but a service error and two hitting errors by Heston Cabinian allowed Moanalua to tie the game at 8.
“It comes down to drive at that point. There’s no more instruction left,” Agpoon said.
The fifth was tied at 10 when Wilcox connected with Tafao on a back set. Tafao was fully extended on the right-side kill and Moanalua never trailed again.
Hirahara lost his right shoe during a serve-receive and walked into a net violation, and after a kill by Bush, Moanalua had a 13-10 lead. After a kill by Hirahara, Kawaa came through with his last kill for a 14-11 lead.
Kamehameha then scored the next three points with Harryzen Soares at serve. Hirahara’s right-side kill tied it at 14, stunning the Moanalua faithful.
However, Soares’ service error gave Moanalua a big break, and a back-row violation by the Warriors ended the match.
La‘i Hirahara paced ILH runner-up Kamehameha (11-6) with 16 kills. Cabinian added 13 kills and middle Dylan Oliva tallied 10. Austin Sanchez had 34 assists and AyJa Miller chipped in 14.
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Division II semifinals
Pearl City 3, Saint Louis 1
Fati Seei-Tofi buried 24 kills on 35 attacks and the Chargers beat the Crusaders 25-21, 25-15, 22-25, 28-26 on Friday.
Keahi Kaneakua added 16 kills and Tiandrew Taimanao added 10 for the Chargers, who benefited from 60 assists by Christian Ronquillio.
Andrew Muragin led Saint Louis with 15 kills and Pupualii Sapulona added 12.
Seabury Hall 3, Nanakuli 2
Thomas Russell had 21 kills and seven digs as the Spartans beat the Golden Hawks 22-25, 20-25, 25-21, 25-12, 15-12 in a marathon.
Blaze Potratz added 13 kills for Seabury Hall and Tyler Russell had 11. Luca Connor ran the offense to the tune of 50 assists.
Makoa Kekaula-Van Gi led Nanakuli with 16 kills, while Carl La’a and Elward Westbrook each added 10.
