Once Punahou walked in ‘Iolani’s gym, divisions did not matter at all.

Thanks to interleague and cross-classification matchups in pool play of the seventh Hawaii Boys Volleyball Invitational, the Buffanblu’s Division II squad got a chance to face off against the top-level team of the rival Raiders. They made good on the rare opportunity, dispatching ‘Iolani 25-19, 25-15 in a noon game on Thursday.

It’s only the second year of existence for Punahou’s secondary squad in the sport. Because schools can’t have representatives in both the Division I and Division II state tournaments at once, a strong showing in this midseason 16-team event — featuring two mainland schools — would help make Punahou II’s season feel complete.

As statement wins go, they’re off to a good start.

"We have a lot of drive," said Buffanblu senior hitter Pono (Isaiah) Kaaa, who had a team-high seven kills. "We just want everyone to know who we are. That’s our main motivation."

Making the win even more impressive, Punahou experienced an impromptu scheduling reversal because Baldwin’s flight was late from Maui. The Buffanblu had perhaps 15 minutes to recover from their 25-19, 25-15 defeat of Poway (Calif.) before playing the hosts, but they were plenty amped and soon clinched a berth in the gold (championship) bracket quarterfinals Friday. Senior setter Tyler Mar spread around 26 assists in the two-set victory. Jessie Torres had six kills and Kaaa had consecutive aces to help Punahou build a 10-3 lead in the second frame.

"That’s all credit to them. They’re ready mentally to come in," Punahou coach Mike China said. "They wanted to play ‘Iolani pretty bad, obviously with the rivalry. You know, that’s all the players. They were ready to go on the quick turnaround."

‘Iolani can still make it to the gold bracket out of its four-team pool by defeating Poway on Friday morning. The Raiders held a players-only meeting after the discouraging loss to Punahou. and came back an hour later to defeat Baldwin 25-15, 25-22 in their upstairs gym.

Raiders coach Carl Rallita was pleased how his team improved its ball control versus the Bears after several shaky stretches against the Buffanblu II.

"You look at that D-II label, and really it’s an illusion because that is an extremely talented team, coached very well. It’s a tough squad," Rallita said.

‘Iolani was without starting setter Zachary Buscher, who was away on a trip. But Rallita didn’t want to use that as an excuse.

"He is a really good kid and we miss him, but our ball control was so bad in that first match," he said. "It really didn’t matter who the setter was. It could have been my grandmother and we still wouldn’t have set the ball."

Preston Scott Kamada led ‘Iolani against Punahou with seven kills.