HHSAA Boys Volleyball
Top-seeded Punahou sweeps Waiakea to advance to semis


  



Sat, May 3, 2014 @ Punahou [ 3:00 pm ]


FINAL  1   2   3   4   5      
WKEA (1-2) 17 21 18 - - 0
PUN (16-0) 25 25 25 - - 3
Kill: T. Tuileta (PUN) 14 kills

MAKIKI – Punahou’s quest for a three-peat kicked off with a straight sweep victory over Waiakea, 25-17, 25-21, 25-18, in the quarterfinal round of the 2014 New City Nissan/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Boys Volleyball Division I Championships at the Christopher B. Hemmeter Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon.

The top-seeded Buffanblu recorded 43 total kills amongst six different players to advance into the semifinal round of the 12-team state tournament. They will take on fourth-seeded King Kekaulike next Friday at McKinley’s Student Council Gymnasium.  

Tui Tuileta led the Buffanblu attack with a match-high 14 kills. Micah Ma’a and Daniel Andrews added eight kills apiece and Trent Thompson chipped in with six.

“I thought that it was a good time to see where we stand compared to the other teams in the state tournament,” Tuileta. “I’m proud how we adjusted to some things and took care of our side of the net.” 

By winning its 10th straight Interscholastic League of Honolulu title, Punahou was awarded a first round bye in the state tournament. This allowed the Buffanblu to see Division I Big Island Interscholastic Federation runner-up Waiakea sweep Kalaheo the previous night.

“We thought we had a pretty good scouting plan and game plan coming into the meeting,” said Punahou coach Rick Tune. “Credit to the guys for executing it. I think they did a really great job at executing the (game) plan as evident by the number of blocks we had, and the number of digs and transition opportunities we got tonight.” 

Andrews led the effort with six of the Buffanblu’s 14 block assists. 

The Buffanblu also received strong performances from their underclassmen in the match. Sophomore setters Wil Stanley and Todd Gruebner combined for 37 assists and ‘Akahi Troske added four kills and a block. 

“They’ve grown tremendously – especially through all the tough matches we had to play in the ILH and when we went to travel,” said Tuileta. “They’ve grown a lot and I can see the difference in them.” 

Coach Tune also made sure to give the Warriors some praise for playing his squad so and forcing them to make adjustments.

“I fully expected it to be close, that’s a good team on the other side of the net. From a talent perspective, they are as talented as any other team in the state.”

Kamahao Paio and Mamane Namahoe led the Warriors’ attack with 11 and 10 kills respectively. Waiakea’s Dillon Rellez also had a solid all-around game with six kills, five digs and 15 assists.

“Our boys had a lot of heart, they took a lot of swings,” said Waiakea coach Ecko Osorio. “I thought we were ready to play, just the experience factor. Our guys haven’t been playing at this level for a while. Just some random events happen and we’re not used to playing with all the little random things that happened.”

Punahou claimed set one, 25-17, with a balanced approach that had the Buffanblu attacking all areas of the court. Five Buffanblu players registered at least two kills in the opening set. 

“Spreading the ball is a big part of the offense; especially when you go through a five-set match, you don’t want to burn your guys out,” said Tuileta. “Knowing that we can set everybody just means that we had good ball control (and) having good ball control is real important to winning the game.” 

The second set was much closer with neither team able to go up by more than two points for a good portion of the game. The score was tied at 17-all before the two-time defending state champs began to pull away, going on a 6-1 run to take control of the set.

“When you see a team keep up with you like that point for point, its kind of who can sustain the focus for a longer amount of time,” said Tuileta. “Getting in the late teens, that’s the point where we locked down and sustain the focus that we needed to close out the match – not try to do anything fancy, not to do anything too much and not to do anything too little. Just to play our game and sustain our focus was a big thing in that set.” 

Punahou would go on to claim set two 25-21.

“Pretty much experience,” Osorio said when asked what the difference was in the later stages of set two. “If we had more chances to play against teams like this a lot (in the BIIF), we would be more prepared for it. (Punahou) was more consistent in most aspects of the game.” 

The Buffanblu were able to ride the momentum of the second set to open the third with a 5-1 run. They later extended their lead to 20-12 before completing the sweep with a 25-18 third set victory.

“Going into the third set we were comfortable with what we saw with them and we were comfortable with the adjustments we made. Just listening to the coaches and making our adjustments in the match was the key,” said Tuileta.



Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].




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