The Hawaii High School Athletic Association (HHSAA) Division I and II boys volleyball playoffs continued in Honolulu on Wednesday night with the quarterfinal rounds, setting up last night’s state semifinals. To read the remaining results of both tournaments, please see Monday’s paper.
Division II
Kona 3, Kailua 1
Big Island Interscholastic Federation (BIIF) DII champion No. 2 Konawaena got off on the right foot in the quarterfinals round of the HHSAA DII tournament — beating Oahu’s Kailua in four sets. The final scores were 25-16, 15-25, 25-21 and 25-18.
Wildcats setter Travis Nakamoto was the star of the show, setting up his teammates with a game-high 44 assists. The senior’s chemistry with freshman Ellison Morgan was on full display, as Morgan recorded 25 of Kona’s 54 kills to lead the team. Manas Dias was the second Wildcat to reach double figures in kills — logging 11. On the defensive side of the net, Evin Wong led Kona with 10 digs. The team collectively had six blocks.
The Surfriders showed fight in the second set by tying up the score, as Kaleb Cui had a match-high 27 kills — but he was the only Kailua player with double-digit kills. Not much offense was produced from the Surfriders outside of Cui, which was too much to overcome against Konawaena’s multifaceted attack.
The Wildcats took on Le Jardin in the semifinals round on Friday at Kalani High School. Kailua played No. 3 Island School in the fifth-place semifinals match on Friday at Damien.
University 3, Ka‘u 0
No. 1-seeded University Lab School made quick work over BIIF DII school Ka‘u — handling the Trojans in straight sets by scores of 25-16, 25-19 and 25-15 at Kalani.
The Junior Bows, who have been unbeaten all season, were led in kills by Koa Laboy (15) and Micah Nakasato (14). Kawehi Kanekua dished out 31 total assists across the three sets. Defensively, Kenna Quitan had 11 digs.
Ka‘u struggled to find offense against University all night, as Tyson Kauhuia-Faafia was the team’s leader in kills with five. Kauhuia-Faafia also notched six digs.
The Junior Bows played No. 5 Molokai in the semifinals Friday in the same gymnasium, while the Trojans faced No. 4 Waialua in the same evening at Damien.
Le Jardin 3, Island 2
Honolulu County squad Le Jardin upset third-seeded Island School from Kauai at Damien High School — beating the Voyagers in five hard sets.
The Bulldogs got off to a great start with a 25-21 first-set win, but Island responded by winning the next two sets 25-16 and 25-18. Facing elimination, Le Jardin scratched and clawed its way to win the fourth set and force a deciding fifth frame — thanks to Brennan Nakayama setting up two straight Bulldogs’ kills with assists to La‘akea Kamahele and Jackson Swirsky to win 26-24.
In the fifth and final set, Le Jardin went on a 5-1 run to end the match and win the frame 15-11 to advance to the semifinals against Konawaena, which occurred Friday night at Kalani. The Voyagers played Kailua in the fifth-place semifinals the same evening.
Elijah-Shore Flores led the winning team in kills with 26, while teammates Kamahele and Swirsky had 16 and 15, respectively. Nakayama shared the love with his pristine passing, dishing out 55 assists. Alika Piette led the Bulldogs’ defensive charge with 22 digs.
Island was led by Bodhi Jones with a match-high 29 kills. Orion Magaoay distributed a team-high 48 assists, while Mark Fitzgerald had 22 digs.
Molokai 3, Waialua 0
No. 5 Molokai defeated No. 4 Waialua in three close sets at Damien — 25-21, 25-22 and 25-23.
On the Farmers’ side, Jericho Adolpho led the evening in kills with 18. Collectively, Molokai had 37 kills. Adolpho and Teaho Poepoe combined for 21 digs to lead the Farmer’s defense.
The Bulldogs were led by Shane Kelly and Dayton Quick, who had 14 and 12 kills, respectively. As a unit, Waialua notched 35 kills. Kaua Kahaulelio led the team in digs with 15.
Molokai played first-seeded University on Friday at Kalani, while Waialua played Ka‘u at Damien.
Division I
Punahou 3, KS-Hawai‘i 0
First-seeded Punahou made quick work of BIIF squad KS-Hawai‘i at Hemmeter Fieldhouse — beating the Warriors in straight sets by scores of 25-12, 25-16 and 25-18.
The Buff ‘N Blue were firing on all cylinders throughout the match, as Brody Badham finished with nine kills and two blocks. Teammate Even Porter collected eight kills, an assist and a block. Leading Punahou’s assist category was Nalu Akana, who dished out 23 of the team’s 42.
The Warriors, on the other hand, couldn’t get anything going — especially offensively. Loheau Boshard, Maka‘ike Kala and Nainoa Paio — the top three scorers on the team — combined for just 14 kills to lead the group. Jayson Nakata led KS-Hawai‘i with 13 assists. The Warriors additionally didn’t provide much defense, as Lansyn Apigo and Kullen Pua had just five digs collectively.
The Buff ‘N Blue played Mililani in the semis Friday at Punahou, while KS-Hawai‘i took on KS-Maui in the fifth-place semifinal at KS-Kapalama.
KSK 3, Hilo 0
Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama surprised No. 3-seeded Hilo with a straight-sets victory over the Vikings in Kekuhaupi’o Gymnasium — winning by scores of 25-10, 25-12 and 25-18.
KSK’s Kainoa Wade led with 20 kills, two assists and a block. Teammate Christian Togiai additionally had nine kills. In KSK’s 48 team assists, Brayden Van Kuren had 28 of them. Conor Williams and Harryzen Soares led the group in kills with eight apiece.
Hilo was led by Maluhia Tandal in kills with seven. Collectively, the Vikings had just 18 assists. Ikena Leao led Hilo’s defense with 12 digs, followed by Tandal with five.
Hilo next played Roosevelt on Friday on the same court in the fifth-place semis, while KSK moved on in the state tournament to the semifinals — taking on No. 2 Moanalua.
Moanalua 3, Roosevelt 0
Second-seeded Moanalua swept Roosevelt in straight sets at Kekuhaupi’o Gym, advancing to Friday’s semifinals against KS-Kapalama.
Na Menehune won each set handedly — 25-16, 25-18 and 25-14. Jaycen Bush and D’Angelo Ross led the winning squad with nine kills each. In the assist department, Malu Wilcox tallied 27 of Moanalua’s 43. Bush and Wilcox also led the team in digs with 11 and nine, respectively.
Over on the Rough Riders’ side, Ford Lyons led the group with seven kills in three blocks. Roman Felipe recorded a team-high 20 assists. Jonathan Yadao led Roosevelt in digs with eight.
While Ne Menehune moved on in the tournament, the Rough Riders played Hilo in the fifth-place consolation semifinal.
Mililani 3, KS-Maui 1
Mililani upset No. 4 KS-Maui in the quarterfinal at Punahou School — 25-20, 23-25, 25-18 and 25-19.
While each set stayed relatively competitive, the Trojans’ offense was too much for the Warriors to overcome, as Mateo Aris and Tyler Duranceau combined for 37 of the team’s 58 kills. Mililani’s Tyce Nakamura led the match in assists with 29. Trevin Matsuba logged 10 digs.
Dylan Schnitzer logged nine kills to lead KS-Maui, followed by teammate Kamahiwa Molitau with six. Pa‘u Spencer dished out 26 assists for a team high.
The Trojans played Punahou at its home gym for a state title match berth, while the Warriors played KS-Hawai‘i in their fifth-place playoff matchup.
