Castle secures East second seed with straight set win over Roosevelt

Greg Yamamoto | SL

For once, the Knights found the sailing relatively smooth against the Rough Riders.

Led by an all-around performance by Kekoa Tani and steady setting by junior Damien Pili-Rumusod, Castle took down Roosevelt in straight sets for the first time since 2018. The set scores were 25-21, 25-19, and 25-22.

"I try to be a team leader, I want to set up my guys to get kills and we just work at practice, so to get this sweep was really big for us," said Tani.

The win, coupled with Kahuku's loss to Moanalua, assured Castle of the second best record in the East heading into the OIA Division I playoffs, and with it a first round bye.

"It's really important (to get the second seed) because then we'll be able to get that bye and watch who we'll have to play in the next round," said Pili-Rumusod.

Tani had a season high 8 kills, and added 10 assists and two aces for good measure.

"He's been like my main hitter, and I try to the ball to him a lot because he's our most consistent hitter," said Pili-Rumusod of Tani.

Castle looked primed to post an set one win up 23-14, but seven quick Roosevelt points with Kenneth Hee back to serve got the Riders right back into set, down just 23-21.

Rattled a bit but undeterred, the Knights recovered rather nicely out of the timeout, getting to set point on block by Nai Kalauokaaea and Kaumana Phillips, followed up by Kalauokaaea kill on the next point to end the first.

Set two saw the Knights extend to a lead as large as eight at 19-11 before another spurt by the Riders, this one a 6-2 advantage, trimmed the margin to 21-17.

Jonathan Yadao had three kills during that stretch, part of his game-high 11, but Castle scored three of the final four points of the second to take it, capped off by a Tani kill.

The final set was tight through the first 20 points, where the score was knotted up at 10-all, but a 6-2 scoring run, this time by the Knights, inched out Castle to an 18-14 advantage. To Roosevelt's credit, it clawed back to tie the set at 22-all, but a Tani kill on the next point seemed to fire up the home team, who then got a solo block from Kalauokaaea to get to match point.

Nanue Sadowski's game ender, helping him finish with a team-leading nine kills, came on the 18th assist in the match from Pili-Rumusod, a last name likely familiar to Castle fans over the past few years, as Damien's older brother Cody, also helped set the table for the Knights' offense at setter.

"He (Cody) was one of our main people last year, so (me) having to fill that role is really important," said Pili-Rumusod when asked about taking on the setter role this season.

Castle finishes up the regular season hosting Farrington, while Roosevelt completes its slate with a game on road against Kaiser.