KEALAKEKUA — The BIIF Division I and Division II boys volleyball championships were held at Konawaena High School on Wednesday night — and concluded with Kamehameha Schools Hawai‘i defeating Hilo High school to win Division I, and Konwaena defeating Pahoa High School to win Division II.
DIVISION II: Konawaena over Pahoa, 3-2
After winning the first two sets, the previously undefeated Daggers fell in five sets to the Wildcats — who secured their second straight BIIF DII title.
Pahoa took sets one and two 25-16 and 25-19, respictively, before Konawaena bounced back and won with straight set victories of 26-24, 25-9 and 15-6.
The Wildcats were led by Danilo Dapiaoen Jr., who was a true flex player — notching 14 digs, ten kills, five aces and three assists. Similarly, Mana Dias contributed ten kills, six digs and an ace. On the back line — Rheneer Romano and Fabian Ruiz tallied 14 and 13 digs, respectively. Setter Travis Nakamoto accounted for 34 assists — as well as three aces, three digs and four kills.
Hunter Paio led Pahoa’s offense with eight kills — and Kailen Kamakeeaina notches six kills, three aces and two digs. Setter Jheyden Haili made 18 assists and had 17 digs and three aces. Noah Kaawaloa led the back line with 18 digs.
Both teams will continue to the HHSAA DII State playoffs, which begin May 11th at various high schools on O‘ahu. The Championship game will take place May 13th at Cannon Activities Center in Laie.
DIVISION I: KSH over Hilo, 3-1
The Warriors defeated the Vikings for the fourth time since the start of the season, securing their third BIIF DI title since 2019.
KSH won sets one and two 25-18 and 25-19, respectively, before Hilo hung on to win the third 25-23. The Warriors dominated the fourth set 25-11 for the win.
“The whole season we were trying to get our kids focused and locked in,” KSH head coach Sam Thomas said. “We did that really well in this game. In the third set, we were down by seven points when (the Vikings) were almost at 25. We still lost that set, but we came back from that deficit.”
The Warriors were led by Mica Wana and Kullen Pua — who recorded identical stats, with 17 kills, six digs and two aces apiece. Pua was named Na Leo TV’s player of the game.
Kalahikiola Maka‘ike contributed ten kills for KSH. Thomas said that libero Makena Aiona-Agra received 18 serves and passed 15 of them perfectly to the setter.
Both the Warriors and the Vikings will attend the HHSAA DI state playoffs, which will also take place on O‘ahu. Hilo will host an off-island opponent on May 8th for the first round, and KSH will have a first round bye — playing its first game in the quarterfinals on May 11th.
