Hawaii Grown notebook: football and women’s volleyball
FOOTBALL
>> Keali’i Ah Yat (Kamehameha), Montana: Carried the ball for 57 yards and four touchdowns in a 46-35 win over Western Carolina, turning a 20-7 deficit to a a 37-27 lead. He threw for 145 yards and an interception and was an honorable mention for the Stats Perform Freshman of the Week award. He was the first Grizzly to score four touchdowns in a game since 2013.
>> Julius Buelow (Kapolei), Mississippi: The transfer from Washington started on the offensive line for the fourth straight week and led the Bulldogs to a 52-13 wipeout of Georgia Southern. He has played in 35 games in his career dating back to 2020 and his teams have won 27 of them.
>> Maika Finau (King Kekaulike), Lindenwood: Earned his first career sack in the fourth quarter of a 64-0 thrashing of St. Thomas (Minn.), adding another tackle and a quarterback hurry in the first half.
>> Dillon Gabriel (Mililani), Oregon: The Ducks play at UCLA on Saturday. Dillon Gabriel, who threw for two TDs against rival Oregon State two weeks ago, has not thrown an interception in 79 attempts with the Ducks and has thrown for multiple touchdowns in six straight contests, dating back to his time at Oklahoma. Iapani Laloulu (Farrington) started at center against Oregon State after the line went through some shuffling earlier and the Ducks didn’t give up a sack or a penalty. They allowed seven sacks in two games before he made the switch.
“I feel great. Wherever the coaches need me to play, I’ll play. Whether it’s right guard, center or left guard, I can play wherever the team needs me to best perform,” Laloulu said in the postgame press conference. “It’s kind of natural for me. Since the beginning of spring and winter, I’ve been playing center. When coach (A’lique) Terry told me that I was going to be playing center this week (vs. Oregon State), nothing really changed… I took that initiative and let them know I was going be the leader for the team.”
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>> Alakai Gilman (Punahou), Utah: Came down with his first interception as a Ute with 44 seconds left in the first half of a 22-19 win over Oklahoma State, adding three tackles and his team’s only quarterback hurry. Gilman played both ways in the fourth quarter of the close game, lining up at running back one series after making his last tackle and carrying the ball twice for 1 yard. Gilman has had one interception in each of the past three years going back to his time at Stanford.
>> Kapena Gushiken (Kamehameha), Washington State: Gave San Jose State problems with a career-high eight tackles, seven of them solo stops, in a 54-52 win over the Spartans. The senior helped take away San Jose State’s first read on the final play of the game, leading to a sack and a fumble.
>> Blaine Hipa (Campbell), Princeton: Earned his first career start and threw two touchdown passes in a 35-20 loss to Lehigh. He finished with 219 passing yards but was picked off three times and was dropped for a total of 37 yards on nine rushing attempts. The junior had attempted only one pass in his career before last week.
>> Liona Lefau (Kahuku), Texas: Had the best game of his young career in a 51-3 win over Louisiana-Monroe, making seven stops with his second sack in as many games and another tackle for loss that earned the Longhorns their first safety since 2021 against Rice.
>> GianCarlo Rufo (Punahou), Georgetown: Dropped the quarterback 1 1/2 times among his eight tackles and pass breakup in a 26-14 loss to Brown. The sophomore has four sacks in 14 games. Kaysen Mahuka-Kaawa (Damien) and Losini Maka (Kahuku) started on the offensive line and helped the offense earn 343 passing yards.
>> Gareth Warren (Kealakehe), Lindenwood: Started on the offensive line as the Wildcats rolled up 541 yards of total offense in a 64-0 win over St. Thomas.
>> Matt Sykes (Saint Louis), Rice: Caught six passes for 82 yards and his second touchdown of the season in a 37-14 loss to Army, scoring the Owls’ first points early in the third quarter and atoning for tipping the ball for an interception on his first target. Dean Connors (Hawaii Prep) had 51 rushing yards and 31 receiving yards on eight receptions. His 77 career receptions is fifth most in program history for a running back.
>> Tevarua Tafiti (Punahou), Stanford: Earned his first sack of the season in a 26-24 win over Syracuse, leading to a punt in the second quarter. He finished with four tackles, three of them solo stops.
>> Josiah Timoteo (Waianae), Nevada: Started on the offensive line and helped the Wolf Pack to 534 yards of total offense in a 49-16 win over Eastern Washington. he has started every game this year after redshirting last season.
VOLLEYBALL
>> Jannie Blake (Kahuku), Eastern Washington: Had 30 assists for the second time this season in a 3-1 win over Gonzaga, getting nine digs to fall one short of her third double-double of the season.
>> Kaia Dunford (Punahou), Missouri-Kansas City: Buried 17 kills and had 12 digs in a 3-1 loss to Montana, then came back the next night and put up 15 kills and 16 digs in a 3-1 loss to Bradley but was left off the all-tournament team for the Kangaroo Klassic.
>> Leilani-Kai Giusta (Quinnipiac), Moanalua: Put down 10 kills in a 3-2 loss to Dartmouth and then hit the same number in a 3-2 loss to Providence, digging up 13 shots in the two matches and adding three aces in the Dartmouth match. Fa’avae Kimsel Moe (Punahou) had 19 digs against the Big Green.
>> Nene Hawkins (Le Jardin), Cal State Bakersfield: Dished out 30 assists and added 13 digs for her second double-double of the season in a 3-2 win over Fresno State. She was named to the Central Cal Challenge’s all-tournament team, the only Roadrunner so honored. Lucky Williams (Punahou) had eight kills and only one error in the championship match.
>> Devin Kahahawai (Kamehameha), Texas: Grabbed a career high with 12 kills against her hometown team in a 3-1 win over Hawaii, hitting .476 and adding two blocks. Her previous high in kills was seven against TCU last year.
>> Emma Lilo (Kamehameha), Oregon State: Nearly had her first double-double of the season with 20 assists and nine digs in a sweep of Portland State, throwing in three aces for good measure.
>> Aysia Miller (Mililani), Maryland-Baltimore County: Dug up a career-high 32 shots in a 3-2 loss to High Point, then added 16 in a 3-2 win over Princeton. It was the second time in the graduate student’s career with 30 or more digs and the most for the program since 2001. She has 1,162 digs in her career, putting her No. 10 in program history.
>> Elena Oglivie (‘Iolani), Stanford: Came up with a season-high 23 digs in a 3-1 win over Kentucky, her eighth straight match with double digits.
>> Senna Roberts-Navarro (‘Iolani), Seton Hall: Had a season-high 13 kills with only one error in a 3-1 loss to Fordham with nine digs, just missing her first double-double of her career. She has 59 kills this season, she had 54 all of last year.
>> Maui Robins (Kamehameha), Portland: Had 18 kills on 46 swings and 16 digs in a 3-2 loss to Cal State Northridge and then put up eight kills and 12 digs in a 3-1 loss to the same group the next night. Taina Kaauwai (Kamehameha-Hawaii) had 13 kills on a .524 hitting percentage and four blocks in the second match.
>> Marley Roe (Kamehameha), Utah Tech: Dished out a season-high 33 assists with four kills and six digs in a 3-2 loss to Northern Arizona. Kaleinani Watson (Kamehameha) had 11 digs — she had only six total in her first four NCAA matches.
>> Bryanne Soares (Kamehameha), Loyola Maryland: The senior had a monster game in a 3-2 win over Navy, passing out a season-high 27 assists to go with a career-high 25 digs and adding two aces. She played only one set in the Greyhounds’ sweep at the hands of American two days before.
>> Alizaysha Sopi (Kapolei), Tennessee State: Earned her first double-double of the season with 11 kills and 10 digs in a 3-2 loss to Texas A&M-Commerce, then put down 1o with nine digs in a 3-1 loss to Mississippi. Her run ended later that night, though, as she got only one kill and hit -.429 in a sweep but had two aces at the hands of Houston to end the Cougar Classic.