March is rapidly approaching, and so is the annual Kamehameha Schools – Hawai‘i boys volleyball tournament — which is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, March 1-2.
18 teams — half local and half from O‘ahu — will take part in the tournament, playing a minimum of six games and advancing through pool and bracket play.
BIIF teams in attendance will include KSH, Hilo High, Ka ‘Umeke Ka‘eo PCS, Pahoa High, Kea‘au High, Waiakea High, Konawaena High, Kealakehe High and Kohala High.
The O‘ahu teams are ‘Iolani School, Kalani High, Lelihua High, Hawaii Baptist Academy, Waialua High, University Lab, Waipahu High, Mililani High and Nanakuli High.
Games will be best of three sets, with the first two played to 25 and the third to 15. The top 12 pool play finishers will enter the gold bracket, where they will compete for the tourney crown — and the bottom six will enter the silver bracket.
Friday and early Saturday morning will be dedicated to pool play, then bracket play will begin mid-morning Saturday — with the final rounds slated for 3:30 p.m.
Of the tournament’s 18 teams, seven played in their respective state tournaments last year. University Lab was the runner-up of the HHSAA Division II state championship, falling 3-1 to Saint Louis.
KSH will look to repeat success this season with a younger squad. The Warriors won a back-to-back BIIF Division I championship last season, defeating Hilo 3-1 before going on to the state tournament — where they finished No. 4 and the Vikings placed No. 5.
Konawaena is the defending BIIF DII champion this season, defeating Pahoa in the fifth set of last year’s title matchup.
Pools assignments are as follows:
Pool A: ‘Iolani, Kalani, Konawaena, Leilehua and Kealakehe.
Pool B: Hawaii Baptist, KSH, Pahoa, Waialua and Ka ‘Umeke.
Pool C: University Lab, Hilo, Kohala and Waipahu.
Pool D: Mililani, Waiakea, Nanakuli and Kea‘au.