Roosevelt turns back Waipahu to reach OIA D1 semifinals

Brian Bautista | SL

It was a late start for the Roosevelt boys volleyball team Thursday night.

Both literally and figuratively.

The tenth-ranked Rough Riders were late to the match, but buckled down to pull off the reverse sweep over Waipahu in the first OIA Division I quarterfinal at Mililani's gymnasium.

Set scores were 24-26, 19-25, 25-15, 25-12 and 15-10.

Three players finished with double-digit kills for Roosevelt (10-2) with Danny Lieu (38 assists, four aces) at the controls. Yu-Tang Hsu had 13 kills and two aces, Ford Lyons had 13 kills with two blocks and Justin Toyama added 10 kills with seven digs to lead the top attackers for the Rough Riders.

Maurice Tuala-Tamaalelagi O'Brien had 13 kills and four total blocks and Isaiah Tutuvanu had 12 kills to lead the Marauders (8-4) in the loss.

Roosevelt moves on to face Mililani (11-0) in the second semifinal at Radford's Jim Alegre Gymnasium on Monday night.

The Trojans swept Kaiser (9-4) in the second quarterfinal on Thursday, 25-15, 25-18, 25-19.

Evan Foki had 10 kills and Manase Fetulimoeata put down eight more with three aces to lead Mililani in the straight set victory.

Akira Davies had 10 kills to pace the Cougars in the loss.

Both the Rough Riders and Trojans have secured a spot in the state tournament in May. The Marauders and Cougars will face off in a consolation bracket on Monday with the winner also clinching a state berth.