Powerhouse Punahou brushed aside a rare moment of vulnerability to defeat ‘Iolani for a third time this season, a convincing four-set decision at the Raiders’ gym on Tuesday.

But the Buffanblu’s second-set letdown — their first dropped set of the season to a Hawaii opponent — was something every other boys volleyball team will cling to for hope come state tournament time.

Ryan Wilcox and Ethan Siegfried put down 13 kills apiece to lead Punahou, while Kanai Akana added 10 kills and six blocks in the 25-13, 23-25, 25-17, 25-15 victory. Punahou (13-0 ILH), ranked No. 5 nationally by MaxPreps.com, was coming off a victory over fellow national power Huntington Beach in the Clash of the Titans tournament over the weekend.

“I think there’s great learning opportunities over the course of the season, and I think good teams, they take the opportunities when they come,” Punahou coach Rick Tune said. “And what we learned tonight, is you can’t take your foot off the gas.”

The Buffanblu ran their ILH set streak to 27 with an effortless first frame.

Tune, accustomed to playing his entire roster most games, inserted some of his backups for the second set. ‘Iolani (9-4) answered the challenge and played Punahou point for point. Setter Shane Harimoto put down consecutive aces on floater serves during a four-point Raiders spurt, rallying the hosts from 17-14 down to a one-point lead. Ryan Van Cantfort’s cross-court shot caught the line for the 25th point, touching off a big cheer from the home crowd.

Of course, they needed to do that twice more.

Junior setter Buddy Scott, who set the show for Punahou in Set 2, concluded the Raiders had narrowed the gap since their previous meeting March 21.

“This time was a dogfight,” said Scott, who dished 11 assists in the frame. “So we just have to come in with the mind-set that every game is going to be a hard game and we need to (respect that).

“In the second set, they really started running their points,” he added. “ And we didn’t play our best volleyball. But we really turned it around in the third and fourth set, and we finished strong. That’s our goal.”

Starting setter Jameson McKibbin (27 assists) deftly commanded his team’s attack the rest of the way, finishing with five blocks and five of his team’s eight aces.

That last figure still counted as an improvement for ‘Iolani, which controls its own destiny for the ILH’s second state berth.

“We were able to control the serve a little more,” Raiders coach Jordan Inafuku said. “That’s really one of the big challenges when you play Punahou. You don’t really get to operate the way that you normally do, because their serve, the first contact takes you out of the match. When we were able to do that consistently, we were right there.”

Hugh Hogland, one of six ‘Iolani seniors to play his last home match, put down a team-high 10 kills.