Kamehameha-Hawaii's Shannon Kanakaole goes up for a jump set against Kalaheo. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Kamehameha-Hawaii's Emmett Enriques puts down an uncontested kill attempt against Kalaheo. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Kalaheo's Silila Tucker heads towards the stands to make a one-handed dig save against Kamehameha-Hawaii. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Kamehameha's Kaipo Woosley and Pukana Vincent put up a double block stuff a kill attempt by Kalaheo's Luke Owens. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Just four days after an agonizing five-set loss to rival Waiakea, Kamehameha-Hawaii rebounded with a sweep of Kalaheo in a first-round match of the New City Nissan/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Boys Volleyball State Championships Wednesday afternoon. The scores were 25-22, 25-17 and 25-21.

A crowd of about 200 fans at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium saw the Warriors improve to 14-1 on the season and advance into Thursday's quarterfinal round, where they will play tournament top-seed, Punahou.

Junior Evan Enriques led the way for Kamehameha-Hawaii, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation runner-up, with a match-high 30 kills against the Mustangs, the third-place team from Oahu Interscholastic Association.

"Our plan was to finish our business as quickly as we could and move onto the next match," said Enriques, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter. "We don't really worry about the outcome too much, as much as the performance, because that's pretty much all we can control, but I think everybody did good."

Evan Enriques is the son of the head coach, Guy, who was pleased with his team's execution against Kalaheo.

"I'm pretty happy with the sweep, we needed a big win going into our next match," said Guy Enriques, who particularly noted his team's ability to finish after trailing early in game 3. "It's so easy – in cases like game 3 – when you have two (games) under your belt, to just let it go and to not be disciplined in that point in time and relax, but you know, we didn't do well this past weekend, so I think the kids are ready to perform."

The marathon loss to Waiakea is the lone blemish on the Warriors' schedule this season.

"I think the thing for us is we've been in a lot of long matches, especially in the BIIF finals, and we've had a bunch of practice at the (Kamehameha) Kapalama tournament, so I think we've learned from all the tournament we've been through and all our games that we just have to conserve energy and finish at the end," Evan Enriques said.

Kamehameha-Hawaii got out to a hot start in the opening game, including an early 4-0 run, but Kalaheo battled back to tie it at 22-all late in the set. However, a Mustang service error was followed by Evan Enriques' fifth kill of the game and Kalaheo committed a four-touch violation to clinch it for the Warriors, 25-22.

Both father and son said Kalaheo's height advantage was a cause for concern going into the match.

"That was probably one of our biggest concerns; They're a pretty good blocking team," Evan Enriques said.

Added Guy Enriques: "They're a big team, they've got some pretty good players and they have the potential to hurt you."

The Warriors didn't wait to separate in game two. With Evan Enriques serving, Kamehameha-Hawaii reeled off five straight points to open the set and seized a 9-3 lead before Kalaheo was forced to called timeout. Evan Enriques put away seven more kills in the second set, which the Warriors easily won, 25-17.

Kamehameha-Hawaii got stellar defensive efforts from libero Dennis Silva, setter Shannon Kanakaole and Evan Enriques.

"Tonight, I feel like our defense was on," said Kanakaole, a senior who also plays some outside hitter. "They were on key, the balls were perfect, perfect passes and I could work with them real well."

Kalaheo led for much of the early portion of game three, but Kamehameha-Hawaii used a 4-0 run to pull ahead at 11-10, forcing a Kalaheo timeout. The Warriors then separated with an 8-2 run to take a commanding 19-13 lead. The Mustangs pulled within 23-21 late in the set, but a double-touch violation against Kalaheo was followed by Evan Enriques' final kill to end it.

"Like always, he's always a spectacular player," Kanakaole said of Evan Enriques. "He always put out his 100 percent for the team and we can't really ask for more from him."

Enriques used a multitude of weapons in his arsenal, including numerous tip attempts, cross-court blasts and down-the-line shots.

"We depend on Evan every night and he's there for us, so we're fortunate that he can do that night to night," said Guy Enriques.

Kamehameha-Hawaii will play reigning state champion Punahou (15-2) in a 7 p.m. Quarterfinal Thursday at McKinley. The game is a rematch of last year's state championship game, which the Buffanblu won to claim their 30th state crown in school history.

Kalaheo fell to 13-3 and will play Roosevelt (7-9) in a 3:30 p.m. consolation game at McKinley Thursday.