Damien punches ticket to states with four set win over Sacred Hearts

Greg Yamamoto | SL

It likely wasn't the way they envisioned it, but the Monarchs are heading back to states.

Damien needed four sets to pull away from a determined Sacred Hearts squad to secure the third and final berth out of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu into the HHSAA Division II state tournament.

Set scores were 25-19, 25-13, 21-25 and 25-20.

"I think there was one point where we were 2-7 and now we are 7-7, so everyday these girls are working hard and they've done everything I've asked," said Damien head coach Dayne Teves.

Marion Hall had six kills in a decisive fourth set, combining with Tiani Pitt for 35 total to power the Monarchs offensively, while Trinytee Kalaola contributed a match-best 50 assists to go along with two aces.

"The sets were there and I think we were just swinging away," said Hall of the six kill fourth set. "I think we saw the open spots and just used it to our advantage."

Damien took command in the first set behind the serving of Jazlyn Saribay, who produced four aces and eight straight points to make it 19-11. The Lancers rallied to get within 23-19, but Keila Tomomitsu and Hall put down back-to-back kills to give the home team the opening set.

Saribay was effective again at the back line in the second set, accounting for eight points in row, the same as she did in the previous set. The Monarchs' lead eventually grew to as large as 13, ultimately resulting in a 25-13 win for the Monarchs in the second.

"She's our main server, in practice she's tough, she works really hard and I'm glad she did what she was able to do today," said Pitt of Saribay.

The Lancers found momentum on their side in set three, as the home team suddenly found some difficulty getting into system, trailing early before rallying to tie the set at 11-all before a string of unforced errors suddenly saw the visiting squad up four points at 16-12. That margin would ultimately balloon to as many at seven, as Melina Cudiamat strung together a trio of aces to put Sacred Hearts in control at 23-17.

A pivotal fourth set started as a see-saw battle that took a turn in Damien's favor with an ace by Aliyah Torres sandiwched between two Hall kills that made it an 11-7 game. That margin persisted to 17-14, where a Pitt kill forced the Lancers to call for time.

"I think we really got better in the fourth set, the third set we were kind of tensing up, there was a lot of pressure on us, but in that fourth set we were like we need to win this now," said Pitt.

Isabella Himalaya served up two consecutive aces coming out of the timeout to make it 19-15, but the Lancers dug deep and responded with three points of its own to get within a pair.

Back-to-back kills by Hall got Damien on the cusp at 23-19, forcing a final timeout by Sacred Hearts. Isabella Fetui's kill made it a three point margin, but a clutch block by Himalaya and Tonomitsu made it set point, and Pitt put down her 19th kill of the match to end it.

Sacred Hearts finished the regular season with just one win against nine losses, but stormed through the postseason league tourney, taking down Hanalani (12-1 in ILH D3 play) and University Lab (7-4) before seeing its hot streak halted in the tourney final.

"Especially after we saw them win against (University) Lab," said Pitt of the Lancers. "We knew we needed to come out with more energy than they did and their student section did. It was tough."

Je t'aime Paio had a match-high 18 kills in the loss for the Lancers.

Damien's first state win came in 2018, and amongst the players on that championship roster, Hall's sister Elsa Radovan and Pitt's sister Kaycee.

"It would be so nice," remarked Hall when asked about a possible second state title run, "Especially since my sister was one of the setters on that team."

"We really want to challenge them," laughed Pitt, "win that state title and have a banner hanging in our gym like they do."