Moanalua forces one-game playoff with sweep of Kaiser

Moanalua's Karson Cruz squeezes a kill attempt through the block of Kaiser's Casey Bolda and Makena Kaneaiakala. Peter Caldwell | SL

Moanalua took the long road to get there, but now sits one match away from claiming a third straight OIA Red division championship, as Na Menehune took down Kaiser in a must-win match, 25-21, 25-23, 25-16, to force a one-game playoff Saturday at Radford.

"We've been playing our best... been playing better ever since that first loss (in the playoffs)." said Zarin Augustiro. "We've got redemption (the win over Kaiser), so we just gotta keep it rolling."

After a closely contested first set that included 8 ties and 5 lead changes up to 20-all, Moanalua used a 5-1 scoring advantage to take game one, highlighted by a pair of booming kills by freshman Austin Matautia.

During the first, Kaiser managed to keep pace with Moanalua despite just five kills in the set.

Set two was a near carbon copy of the first in terms of ebb and flow, with neither team finding much breathing room from the other on the scoreboard. Kaiser tied up the contest on a Christian Sele kill at 23-all, prompting a Moanalua timeout, and on the ensuing point, a hitting error by the Cougars provided a golden opportunity for Na Menehune to snatch a 2 games to none lead.

And on the next point, Matautia would leave no doubt, winning the point on a resounding solo block on the left edge to win the set for Moanalua, 25-23.

Momentum clearly on the side of the two-time defending champs, Moanalua did not let up in the third set, and used another scoring spurt, this one a 6-1 advantage, to reach the all-important twenty point plateau first.

The Cougars called for time, but couldn't slow the momentum Na Menehune were riding, as a Tahi Caldwell ace was followed up by a Matautia block that forced Kaiser to burn another timeout to try and stop the bleeding.

But Moanalua would not be denied on this night, as a Kaiser attack sailed wide out of the timeout to bring up set point, leaving Caldwell still on serve with a chance to end it.

"There was a big pause, everyone was telling me to stay down." recalled Caldwell. "But Coach Kawika came out and said go for it, so I just ripped it as hard as I could and it just came out successful."

The arms of Caldwell and Matautia came up big once again for Na Menehune, racking up 19 kills between each other. Karson Cruz added 7 kills from the middle blocker position, and a presence in the middle that forced the Cougars' block guessing for much of the night.

"Its fun to be able to distribute the ball, seeing them execute what I dish out, its rewarding for me." said setter Augustiro, who had 31 assists in the contest.

A usually steady offense threat for Kaiser in Casey Bolda was held in check for the most part tonight, but he still managed to reach double-digits in kills (10) and added 2 blocks and 4 digs.

Moanalua and Kaiser will take the court for a winner-take-all rematch on Saturday at Radford at 10 a.m. The winner will be OIA Red division champions and will also get the OIAs seeded berth in the Division I boys volleyball tournament.

"We need to continue to have the same mindset we had before we played Kaiser (in wins over Leilehua, McKinley and Kalaheo). If we take no team for granted, we'll be good," said Moanalua head coach Alan Cabanting. "The boys are jelling really good, they're peaking at the right time, and they're playing as a team."

Reach Brien Ing at [email protected].