The Kamehameha-Hawaii Warriors had lost before, but they would not accept a loss like this.
Instead, the BIIF champion rallied from a two-set deficit for a 24-26, 14-25, 25-23, 25-5, 15-11 semifinal win over OIA champion Kahuku on Thursday night at Moanalua gym.
Kamehameha-Hawaii (38-5-1 overall) will meet the ‘Iolani-Mililani winner on Friday night in the final of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Girls Volleyball State Championships at Stan Sheriff Center.
Maela Honma led KS-Hawaii with 17 kills and 19 digs. Senior middle Taina Kaauwai tallied 13 kills and four blocks, while Sarah Schubert added 11 kills and 14 digs. Kilinoelehua Helm had seven kills. Leisey Kelii added 18 digs, while Tacoma Kelson (22 assists) and Savanna Colliado (21 assists) ran the offense.
After 51 swings in the quarterfinal round, Honma had 65 against Kahuku.
“Yes, we’re definitely tired. Long game, we worked really hard,” said Honma, a junior outside hitter.
Including a recent California trip that added nine wins and a Southern California Invitational title to the ledger, KS-Hawaii now has a 23-match win streak. The run goes all the way back to Sept. 17, when the Warriors closed out the Durango Fall Classic with two-set sweeps of Harvard-Westlake (Calif.), Coronado (Calif.) and Liberty (Nev.)
On Thursday, though, talented and scrappy Kahuku had the Warriors wobbly and sometimes frozen.
“I’m pleased and pleasantly happy. But I never thought it would get that far. I didn’t think we’d get that far down. That’s the first time I’ve seen us get down that much,” Warriors coach Guy Enriques said. “We had to learn from that. The times we lost, we hadn’t been down because of our poor play. We got beat. Tonight, we were in our own heads for a little bit. Body language was bad. Not being aggressive. Waiting for something to happen instead of making it happen. We had to learn how to get better in these circumstances.”
Honma, who had 21 kills in the quarterfinal against Punahou, noted that Enriques gave the team the right message at the right time.
“We believed in ourselves. What is this game for? It could be our last, our last chance of winning a state title,” she said. “We remember what losses feel like. I think we were sitting back on our win (over Punahou), a little complacent. Coach gave us a reality check and we just fought back harder,” Honma said.
For half the match, it seemed the Warriors were somewhat listless less than 24 hours after sweeping Punahou, the unseeded squad that is second in the Star-Advertiser Top 10.
Kaauwai said the team had to rededicate itself.
“We needed to find our groove. We have a lot of seniors and this is important to us. We dug down deep and fought not only for our seniors, but for the younger generation and everyone that supports us,” she said.
Cha’lei Reid had 13 kills to lead Kahuku. Mele Taumoepeau and Sidney Keni each added 11 kills, and Dakota Keni dished 18 assists. Hehea Pulotu had a match-high 28 digs.
KS-Hawaii hit .155 and Kahuku hit .151.
It was KS-Hawaii that stormed out to a 12-6 lead in the opening set, playing with efficiency and precision as Kahuku stumbled with a variety of errors, from net violations to double hits to service errors.
The Lady Raiders, as always, dug deep and rallied. They got to 18-all as KS-Hawaii began to falter with unforced errors. Trailing 22-19, Kahuku took a 23-22 lead on a kill by Sidney Keni.
At 24-all, Kahuku got a kill and then a block by Reid to take the first set.
Kahuku stormed to an 8-2 lead in the second game and never lost it. The Lady Raiders built the lead to 18-4 en route to a 2-0 lead in the match as Reid accumulated five kills and four aces in the set.
KS-Hawaii turned it around, temporarily, with a 7-0 run to start Set 3. However, Kahuku rallied and took an 11-9 lead. After back-to-back kills by Reid, Kahuku led 18-14 and appeared on the verge of a sweep.
The Warriors came back and tied it at 22 on a Kahuku hitting error, then took the lead on a kill by Kaleaokapuamakani Kuamo‘o. Up 24-23, they got a kill by Helm to claim Set 3.
KS-Hawaii again zoomed to a 7-0 lead in the next game, but this time the tsunami kept going in the lopsided 25-5 game. Honma had five more kills in the fourth.
The Warriors had a 5-3 lead in the deciding fifth set, but Kahuku rallied thanks to kills by Reid and Sidney Keni. After a block by Maia Esera, the Lady Raiders led 7-5.
Kaauwai, who couldn’t get consistent feeds early on, drilled five kills in the fifth set. Down 9-8, KS-Hawaii got a kill from Kaauwai, two Kahuku hitting errors, and another kill by Kaauwai for a 12-9 lead.
Sidney Keni’s kill cut the lead to two points, but Kaauwai found the back corner on an overpass by Kahuku. Up 14-11, Honma’s final kill ended the match.
It was the second five-set match in as many days for Kahuku (23-5), which hung on to edge Moanalua on Wednesday 25-19, 21-25, 26-24, 31-33, 15-13. The loss snapped Kahuku’s 11-match win streak. The Lady Raiders had not lost since Sept. 18 against Lone Peak (Utah).
Division II
Hawaii Baptist 3, Damien 2
Marisa Nakata hammered a match-high 36 kills as Hawaii Baptist defeated Damien 20-25, 25-21, 25-17, 18-25, 18-16 at Kalani in the first HHSAA Division II semifinal match.
Nakata, who added 20 digs, took a total of 92 swings in the match. Caitlin Wong had 22 kills for the Eagles, who advanced to face top-seeded Le Jardin in today’s championship match.
Kaila Kalama-Bajet led the Monarchs with 22 kills and 15 digs, while Kiana Cueto added 21 kills and 15 digs.
Le Jardin 3, Maryknoll 0
Reese Diersbock led all hitters with 18 kills, helping the top-seeded Royals beat the Spartans 25-19, 25-21, 25-20 in the second HHSAA Division II semifinal match at Kalani.
Diersbock hit an efficient .441 in the match, compiling her kill total on 34 swings while adding six digs.
Hope Fine had 10 kills to lead the Spartans, who will face Damien in the third-place match.
