The energy from last year’s wildly successful season has matriculated to this year’s ‘Iolani volleyball squad. As for the faces, not so much.

The Raiders look to build off last year’s season, which included an ILH title and state runner-up finish, with a majority of newcomers. In its first match of the season, host ‘Iolani swept Los Alamitos (Calif.) 25-19, 25-10 in the Ann Kang Invitational Volleyball Tournament on Thursday.

“We have a lot of young kids, freshmen and sophomores that we’re asking to step in and take over where the seniors from last year left off, which is definitely tough to do,” said ‘Iolani coach Kainoa Obrey. “At least this first one, we got off to a good start, we served well, passed well, which helps us hit well.”

Freshman Elena Oglivie led ‘Iolani with nine kills and junior Saige Kaahaaina-Torres had six in the win over Los Alamitos. Ana Oglivie, one of just four seniors, finished with 20 assists in the win and Izabella Sakoda had three blocks. The third-ranked Raiders finished 3-0 on the opening day of pool play.

“For us, it’s how much growth can we make over the (next) three days, because that’s kind of where we’re at right now,” Obrey said. “We want to win the matches, but how much are we progressing over the three days.”

Last year’s ILH title was ‘Iolani’s first since 2001. It also made the state tournament for the first time since 2007 before losing to Kamehameha in the championship match.

“We’re taking the energy and all of the support, and taking it over to this year,” said sophomore returnee Naya Dong.

Against Los Alamitos, ‘Iolani saw an early 6-0 lead diminish to 15-12 in Set 1. The Raiders then scored five straight to pull away from the Griffins.

‘Iolani continued to serve tough and pass well in Set 2 with Dong at libero. Elena Oglivie had three kills midway through the set that gave ‘Iolani an 18-7 lead.

“Keeping our serve in and hitting the spots, that really helped us in the second set,” Dong said.

Abby Karich led Los Alamitos with four kills.

“I thought we served really well and got them in tough situations,” Obrey said. “When we got free balls, we passed it pretty well and our hitters got into a groove and Ana set it really nice. We capitalized on those situations.”

Defending champion Santa Margarita Catholic (Calif.) went 3-0 on opening day and defeated second-ranked Punahou 25-23, 25-14 in a rematch of last year’s championship match. The 16-team tournament features teams from Hawaii, California and Texas. Pool play continues today with matches starting at 8 a.m. The last matches are scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.

RESULTS

Santa Margarita (Calif). def. ‘Iolani I-AA 25-6, 25-10

Punahou def. Moanalua 25-17, 25-22

Le Jardin def. Newport Harbor (Calif.) 25-15, 22-25, 15-13

Mira Costa (Calif.) def. Boswell (Texas) 16-25, 25-21, 15-9

Santa Margarita def. Newport Harbor 25-15, 25-12

Punahou def. ‘Iolani I-AA 25-9, 25-20

Mira Costa def. Le Jardin 25-22, 25-10

Boswell def. Moanalua 25-13, 25-22

Mira Costa def. Newport Harbor 25-20, 25-18

Santa Margarita def. Punahou 25-23, 25-14

Boswell def. ‘Iolani I-AA 25-15, 25-11

Le Jardin def. Moanalua 24-26, 25-19, 15-13

Southlake Carroll (Texas) def. Hawaii Baptist 25-16, 25-12

Edison (Calif.) def. Kahuku 33-31, 25-19

Kingwood (Texas) def. Sage Hill (Calif.) 25-23, 20-25, 15-13

‘Iolani def. Los Alamitos 25-19, 25-10

Kingwood def. Sage Hill 25-23, 20-25, 15-13

Southlake Carroll def. Sage Hill 25-16, 25-18

Edison def. Hawaii Baptist 25-16, 25-22

‘Iolani def. Kingwood 25-11, 25-10

Los Alamitos def. Kahuku 22-25, 25-22, 15-6

‘Iolani def. Sage Hill 25-17, 25-22

Los Alamitos def. Hawaii Baptist 25-19, 25-10