HONOLULU — Four BIIF boys volleyball teams attended the HHSAA Division I and Division II State playoffs last week.
In DI action, Kamehameha Schools – Hawai‘i went 1-2 to finish in fourth place, and Hilo High School went 2-1 to place fifth.
In DII, Pahoa High School fell from the tournament with a 0-2 record, while Konawaena High School went 1-2 to place sixth.
In the DI championship round, Punahou School defeated KS-Kapalama 3-2 — Saint Louis High School beat University Lab 3-1 to win Division II
DI Quarterfinals:
KSH 3 – Mililani 1
The Warriors kept ahead of the Trojans to win their first playoff game and secure a semifinal berth.
“I think we surprised Mililani a bit,” KSH head coach Sam Thomas said, “because they had come up to our preseason tournament in March and beaten us in two straight sets.”
After KSH dominated the first set 25-11, Mililani turned the tables with a 25-16 victory.
The Warriors quickly stopped the Trojans’ momentum dead in its tracks, winning the third and fourth sets 25-18 and 25-20, respectively.
KSH’s Micah Wana dominated Mililani’s defense, leading with 26 kills and also contributing nine digs and an ace.
Sophomore teammate Kullen Pua notched 14 kills and three aces, while Makena Aiona-Agra led the Warriors’ defense with 15 digs and two aces. Micah Mahuna had a noteworthy day in the middle of the front line, recording 48 assists and eight digs.
The Trojans were led by Manase Fetulimoeata and Tyler Duranceau, who each notched 11 kills.
DI Quarterfinals: Moanalua 3 – Hilo 0
The Vikings were swept in their second playoff outing, falling to No. 1 seeded Na Menehune.
Hilo fell in straight sets of 25-11, 25-13 and 25-15.
Maluhia Tandal led the Vikings’ front line, notching nine kills. Kanoa Pana contributed 17 assists, three kills and two digs. Kawai Wilbur-Gabriel and Peyton Pana each had five kills.
Justin Todd led Moanalua with 11 kills.
DII Quarterfinals: University Lab 3 -
Pahoa 0
The Daggers trailed the Jr. Bows closely, but ultimately were swept — falling in sets of 25-17, 25-20 and 25-19.
Hunter Paio led Pahoa’s front line with five kills, followed by Kailen Kamakeeaina with four kills and three digs.
Noah Kaawaloa led the Daggers’ defense with eight digs, and Jheyden Haili had nine assists and five digs.
University Lab was led by Koa Laboy with 15 kills and five digs, and Trey Ambrozich with 13 kills and ten digs.
DII Quarterfinals: Saint Louis 3 – Konawaena 0
The BIIF DII Champions fell quickly to the ILH DII Runners-up — falling in sets of 25-17, 25-10 and 25-19.
Though the Wildcats’ defense racked up big numbers, they were out-hit by the Crusaders.
Rheneer Romano led Konawaena with 24 digs and five kills, followed by Fabian Ruiz with 22 digs. Danilo Dapiaoen Jr. added 17 digs, and Travis Nakamoto notched 12 assists.
Saint Louis was led by Trhijton James Setik, who had ten kills and 12 digs.
DI Semifinals:
KSK 3 – KSH 0
In its first sweep loss of the season, KSH was knocked out of the winning bracket by its sister school.
KSK won in straight sets of 25-16, 25-15 and 25-17.
“On our side of the net, there were too many hitting errors,” Thomas said. “That pretty much defined the whole game. It really hurt us, we did not do good in that match at all. It was disappointing to the team and the staff, we really wanted to put on a good show playing our big brothers.”
Kapalama was led by Kyler Wade with 17 kills and Brayden Van Kuren with 21 assists.
KSH’s front line was kept under control by KSK. Nauhi Liwis led in hitting with seven kills, and Micah Mahuna contributed 19 assists.
Makena Aiona-Agra led KSH’s defense with seven digs, and Micah Wana had six digs and five kills.
DII Consolation: Konawaena 2 – Molokai 0
The Wildcats bounced back from their quarterfinal loss, defeating Molokai High School in sets of 25-22 and 25-16 to secure a fifth-place consolation match berth.
DI Consolation:
Hilo 2 – KS-Maui 0
The Vikings hung in the fifth-place consolation bracket by winning a shortened match against Kamehameha Schools – Maui.
Hilo won in straight sets of 25-16 and 25-17.
DII Consolation:
Radford 2 – Pahoa 1
The Daggers dropped out of the tourney, falling to the Rams in three sets.
Radford won the first set 25-19, but Pahoa took a narrow, 25-23 second-set win.
The Daggers fell 15-9 in the final set.
DI Third-place match: Moanalua 2 – KSH 0
The No. 1 seeded Na Menehune swept the Warriors to take third place.
The first set went extremely long, and ended with Moanalua winning 31-29.
“I told the kids before the game,” Thomas said, “I said ‘we have two goals — every player gives 150 percent, and have fun.’ I think we met both of those goals. We ended up losing 31-29 to a team that had been named No. 3 in the nation lst week, according to a USA Today poll.”
The Warriors fell again in the second set, 25-15.
Wana led KSH with ten kills and four digs. Mahuna notched 20 assists and five digs, and Aiona-Agra had 14 digs.
DI Fifth-place match:
Hilo 2 – Mililani 1
The Vikings ended the tournament on a high note, defeating the Trojans to secure fifth place.
After MHS won the first set 25-14, Hilo hung on to win the second 32-30 — then the third set 15-13.
Tandal led with 12 kills, seven digs and two assists — followed by Wilbur-Gabriel with ten kills and seven digs.
Peyton Pana had eight kills — and Kanoa Pana contributed 30 assists and nine digs.
Harman led the Vikings’ defense with 17 digs.
DII Fifth-place match: Radford 2 – Konawaena 0
The Wildcats were swept by the Rams, landing in sixth place.
Radford won the first set 25-22 and the second 25-14.
Mana Dias led Konawaena’s offense with eight kills, two digs and an assist.
Nakamoto notched 17 assists, two digs and a kill.
