Punahou brought plenty of thunder and lightning to Kapalama Heights last night.

The Buffanblu, ranked No. 1 in the Star-Advertiser Boys Volleyball Top 10, took every blow from No. 2 Kamehameha and held on for a 25-22, 21-25, 27-25, 25-15 win before a spirited crowd of about 1,000 fans at Kekuhaupio Gym.

Punahou (18-0) had already clinched a state tournament berth, but the Warriors were hungry after a loss at ‘Iolani two days earlier. Kamehameha played some of its finest volleyball of the season until the fourth set, when Punahou’s back row stepped up.

“Passing. We handled their jump serves,” Buffanblu coach Rick Tune said. “The first three sets, there were stretches when they had one big jump-serve run. We worked real hard with our block and our defense to chip away and get points, you can’t give ’em all back on a serving run.”

Lowell Tong and Tyler Kubota shared setting duties.

“When we can run our offense and get three, four attackers, we feel comfortable. We’re tough to stop,” Tune added.

Up front, senior Benjamin Lam was a force offensively and defensively.

“I feel great. We’re almost ILH champs. We have one more game against Saint Louis,” Lam said.

Kamehameha (three losses) and ‘Iolani (three losses) are battling for the league’s second state tournament berth.

“If we beat Saint Louis, then we lock up ILH and get ready for states,” said Lam, who has signed a letter of intent to play for USC next season. “ILH champs is a great achievement, but we’re not stopping at that. We’re going for states, for sure.”

Tune was adamant about taking things one day at a time.

“No. No. We take every match as it comes,” Tune said. “Saint Louis is a good team and we can’t disrespect them by taking them lightly or talking about clinching. We want to finish on a good note. We want to play our best volleyball and start peaking for the state tournament.”

Punahou defeated Kamehameha earlier in the season and intended to wear out the Warriors’ stalwart 6-foot-5 senior, Micah Christenson.

“I think we played well. We learned something about ourselves today. We can fight back with our backs against the wall. We can count on a lot of guys,” Christenson said. "(Punahou) was digging a bunch of balls in the fourth set, balls that went down in the first set. They’ve got a bunch of good players, good young players. I’d love to see them again.”

After taking the first set, Punahou fell behind 10-5 in the second. The visitors rallied to take a 15-14 lead, and the game was tied at 20-all before Christenson took command. He had a kill, an ace and a kill from the back row, and fed Daylan Chock for another kill and a 24-20 lead. Cullen Mosher’s kill over the middle ended the set and gave the Warriors renewed life.

Kamehameha rallied from an 18-14 deficit behind a hot streak of kills by Christenson. The Warriors took a 24-23 lead when a volley by Punahou’s Griffin Bolan hit the roof and landed back on the Buffanblu side of the court for a violation.

However, Tui Tuileta tipped a kill and a hitting error by Christenson allowed Punahou to take a 25-24 lead. Christenson came back with a push that dropped in for a kill.

But Brandon Pitzer and Kupono Fey delivered kills to end the match in Punahou’s favor for a 2-1 lead.

From there, Kamehameha’s serve was less of a factor with libero Kekai Nu‘uhiwa leading the defense from the back row. Punahou surged to a 7-1 lead and Kamehameha got no closer than three points the rest of the way.

“We really emphasize finishing our matches,” said Tuileta, a freshman. “We knew it would be a big crowd, but we just had to focus on what was happening on the court and not on what’s happening around us.”

Tuileta was a budding phenom in Punahou’s intermediate program. He’s had a major impact in his first year on varsity.

“In seventh and eighth grade, the crowd isn’t as big. It’s friends and family here and we just want to put on a great game,” he said.