More photos: Radford v. Kalaheo; Mililani v. Moanalua
Mililani closed out a dominant run through the OIA with another masterful performance.
The Trojans swept Moanalua 25-22, 25-20, 25-16 on Wednesday night at McKinley to win their second OIA Red championship in three years. But this one was a little bit different for the 13-0 Trojans.
This one capped an undefeated season, the first in the OIA since Kahuku in 2008 and only the second since 2003.
"It’s unbelieveable," Mililani setter Jordyn Keamo said. "There are no words, I am speechless I am so happy. We worked so hard. The first set could have been better, but the second set we pushed through and in the third everything clicked."
Mililani’s dominance began and ended with its service game. The Trojans shook off three service errors in the first set and enjoyed six aces after that. Those serves that did not score a point directly had Moanalua (12-4) scrambling and giving up free swings.
"I don’t like to give up free points on the serve," Mililani coach Val Crabbe said. "We call serves, but some girls do their own thing and I guess it works."
Sarah Liva led the Trojans with 14 kills and Ashlee Vaoifi added 13, while Keamo ran the show as the setter and had five kills of her own. Jay Kapowai had six kills for the Trojans, and Silerolia Gaogao paced Na Menehune with 15, including five in a row to delay Mililani’s celebration.
"Their serving is really tough," Moanalua coach Tommy Lake said. "Not so much the serving, but the variety of shots and their energy is amazing. Even when they dropped that set to Kahuku, they came back like nothing happened."
After running through their league unbeaten, and dropping only one set when they lost the first to Kahuku in the round prior last Thursday, the Trojans will get the OIA’s seeded berth in next week’s state tournament on the Big Island. But should they get the top seed overall?
"I don’t know about that," Crabbe said. "Punahou and Kamehameha are out there. The blue and white is always tough. I feel this just gives us more of a target on our backs."