ILH Boys Volleyball
Tuileta, Ma'a lead way in Punahou sweep of Kamehameha


  



Thu, Apr 17, 2014 @ Punahou [ 4:30 pm ]


FINAL  1   2   3   4   5      
KSK (11-5) 14 21 22 - - 0
PUN (16-0) 25 25 25 - - 3

Punahou (12-0) swept Kamehameha (8-3), 25-14, 25-21 and 25-22 on their Senior Night in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I postseason tournament at Punahou’s Hemmeter Fieldhouse on Thursday afternoon. Kamehameha plays on Monday, Apr. 21 and will play the winner of 'Iolani/Saint Louis which will be played on Saturday, Apr. 19. If the Warriors prevail, they could possibly meet Punahou again on Apr. 22. 

“The last time they played us we were able to tell that playing them today that they improved a lot. I think it was a good challenge for us and it shows that when we get deeper into the season, it’s going to get more and more competitive and they really improved a challenged us today,” said Larry Tuileta. 

“Kamehameha is always a challenge and we prepare really hard for them and we know it’s going to be a fight and we know they’re going to bring it,” said Trent Thompson. 

“I think these guys knew in the back of their minds we had the possibility of one more game here, but that not being a certainty, we had to prep with this being the night,” said Punahou coach Rick Tune. 

Larry “Tui” Tuileta led Punahou with 13 kills, Micah Ma’a had 12 kills, Trent Thompson had nine kills and Kyle Yogi had three service aces. 

In the first set, Tuileta had a kill to break open a 3-3 tie and the Buffanblu went on a 8-2 run to take a 11-5 lead. Punahou managed to extend the lead to 10, 24-14 after a Thompson kill. Thompson would later finish off the set, 25-14 after the ball went off of a Kamehameha block attempt. 

“I always try to play my part in the dynamic of the team, Wil (Stanley) was setting really great today and we were passing really well today too, that’s why I think we were able to win in three sets because our passing was really great,” said Thompson. 

In the second set, Kamehameha struck first and took a 5-3 lead after a block from Breynt Cannon. Punahou tied it up at 5 after Kaehu Ka’a’a’s kill attempt went out of bounds and took their first lead of the set, 8-7 after Kahiau Machado hit it out. The Buffanblu extended their lead, 17-13 after Yogi’s service ace and Kamehameha called a timeout. Punahou outscored Kamehameha, 5-2 to make it 22-15 after a kill from Tuileta. 

There was no quit in the Warriors as they battled back. Ka’a’a rattled off three straight kills to bring Kamehameha within 3, 24-21 prompting coach Tune to call a timeout. However, Ka’a’a’s kill attempt went long and out of bounds and Punahou won the second set, 25-21.

“They were able to get to us in the early game and when we got later in the game, it really came down to our focus and that’s what we do in practice. In the Clash of Titans, we weren’t really able to close out sets so going back to the way we were practicing and coming back into this match ups is what we need to work on and we could’ve done better, we still came out a little slow and there’s still a lot of improvement to go,” said Tuileta. 

“We noticed that they were increasing the intensity and we were kind of trailing behind and that’s something we’ve been trying to work on and trying to match their intensity and we pulled through in the end and did that,” said Thompson. 

Ka’a’a was aggressive and tallied 18 kills for the game. 

“I didn’t think we did a great job slowing them down, so we’ll probably see them next Tuesday, that’s their guy,” said Tune, on Ka’a’a. 

In the third set, Kamehameha jumped out to an early lead and went up, 9-5 after a big solo block from Bryson Barian-Garcia. Ma’a’s kill sparked the 3-0 run to bring the Buffanblu within 1. Ka’a’a extended the lead back to 2, 10-8 after a kill. 

“I thought Kamehameha was really scrappy, they got a lot of balls back over the net and we had to match that and we did that for most of the night, they’re doing a good job playing to their strengths,” said Tune. 

Punahou took their first lead of the set, 13-12 after Daniel Andrews and Thompson combined for a block. Both teams went back and forth and Punahou started to separate after Ma’a’s kill to make it 21-18. The Warriors scored three straight points, capped off by a service ace from Chris Wise to tie the game at 21 and Punahou called a timeout. 

“When we’re trying to click on the intensity and sometimes it’s hard for us to do that and we have to wait. I prefer that we not wait until we get down or dig ourselves in a hole and our kids like a challenge and they respond well to challenges,” remarked Tune. 

Punahou went up 24-22 after Aukai Pennington hit it into the net and Kamehameha called a timeout to talk things over. Tuileta pounded a kill to win the set, 25-22 and to end the match. 

“Coming down into the end of the season, we want to have no regrets going off the court and that’s the cause of our diving and hard practices working on not letting the ball hit the ground because that point could be the last point of your season, especially today on Senior Night and it’s a reminder to us. We still continue to work on that and we try to emphasize go for the ball especially with all our young guys,” said Tuileta.



Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].




Show your support

Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.

Please consider making a contribution today.

ADVERTISEMENT


IMAGE GALLERY



MORE STORIES

Punahou continues unbeaten streak, hands Kamehameha second straight loss

Third-ranked Warriors suffered consecutive losses in the regular season for the first time since 2017.

No. 4 Iolani rallies to hand No. 1 Kamehameha first ILH loss

Ethan Akagi and CJ Taira scored the winning runs for the Raiders off a wild pitch to hand the top-ranked...

Punahou pulls away from PAC-5 to notch first ILH win

The Buffanblu ended a five-game skid and broke into the win column to keep the Wolfpack winless in the...

Kalani's Nishigaya headlines All-OIA East selections

Forward/midfielder Kaiulani Nishigaya helped lift Falcons to first-ever league title; Kaiser's Noelani...

Trojans' Fuamatu-Maafala leads All-OIA West picks

Mililani's Iai Fuamatu-Maafala named Player of the Year; Campbell's James Curran named coach of the year.

Knights' Turcios named All-OIA East player of the year

Damon Turcios lone Castle player named to first team; Kailua's Joseph Wood named coach of the year.