‘Iolani’s coaching staff diverted the attention of its young squad to the match rather than the bigger picture. The focus was the match, not the state tournament berth at stake.
Elena Oglivie had 25 kills and Saige Kaahaaina-Torres had 22 kills as host ‘Iolani defeated Punahou 23-25, 25-18, 26-24, 25-19 on Friday to claim the ILH’s second and final state tournament berth. Setter Ana Oglivie had 52 assists for third-ranked ‘Iolani (12-4), which has six sophomores and two freshmen on the roster.
“With this group, with the amount of youth we have, eight that are sophomores or freshmen, we just wanted to treat it like any other game,” said ‘Iolani coach Kainoa Obrey. “We just have to play another game, not worry what we get from the result of the game.
“Just trying to win this game and pay attention to this. Now we can have a good time about it and really celebrate our success.”
Paige Hilliard had 15 kills and Savana Greene had 12 kills for fourth-ranked Punahou, which finished the season 10-7. Hina Puaa had 48 assists in the Buffanblu’s third match of the week and second in 24 hours.
Punahou beat Mid-Pacific on Tuesday and had to play Kamehameha on Thursday to determine the league’s second-round champion. ‘Iolani lost to Kamehameha on Tuesday and was sent to Friday’s match that pitted the second-place teams from the first and second rounds. Kamehameha won the ILH title and secured a first-round bye in the state tournament.
“I’m very proud of them,” said Punahou coach Tanya Fuamatu-Anderson. “I love my kids. They work really hard for us. This year wasn’t our turn.”
Ana Oglivie, one of four seniors on the team, will lead the Raiders into their second straight state tournament. The Division I state tournament starts Monday with first-round matches at campus sites. Monday’s winners advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals at Moanalua and McKinley. The Division II tournament starts on Wednesday with first-round matches at Kaimuki and St. Francis. The championship matches are Saturday at the Blaisdell.
“I think our team is pretty young and pretty goofy,” Ana Oglivie said. “We were aware of the intensity, but we don’t play to the other team’s intensity. We just stick to our side. Our coaches help us and keep us grounded and we keep each other grounded on the court.”
Halia Hogan had eight blocks and Sasha Petticord had six blocks for the Raiders, who outblocked Punahou 16-4.
“We really love to block in our program,” Obrey said. “We don’t have the biggest kids, but in our league, with the amount of hitters we have on each team, you’ve got to put up a solid block.”
Piikea Clemens had six kills and two blocks for the Buffanblu before leaving the match late in Set 2 with an injury. She exited as Punahou cut a 19-9 deficit to 20-16. Kaahaaina-Torres then had three kills to help the Raiders finish off the set.
Punahou fell behind 7-2 to start Set 3, then rallied to tie it at 10. The set was tied 10 more times, the last on Hilliard’s kill that made it 24-24. A Punahou hitting error and a block by Petticord and Kristen McDaniel ended the set.
“We battled, but we weren’t able to start off from the beginning and go strong,” Fuamatu-Anderson said. “We had our spurts and for sure we didn’t give up. I’m proud of them because of that. The reality is we had our opportunities and we didn’t capitalize on them.”
