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Kalani Takase | ScoringLiveNovember 3, 2024, 1:03am
Sat, Nov 2, 2024 @ BYU-Hawaii [ 7:00 pm ]
LAIE — The koa is staying put with the Warriors.
Kalaweloilehua Chock and Kamanao Goldstein put down 17 kills apiece and Kalamaku Crabbe added 12 to help No. 3 Kamehameha post a four-set win over No. 1 Iolani Saturday night.
A crowd of about 850 fans at the Cannon Activities Center saw the Warriors (12-6) successfully defend their New City Nissan/HHSAA Division I state crown with an upset of the top-seeded Raiders (14-2). The set scores were 25-16, 25-16, 15-25 and 25-22.
In six previous tries this season, Kamehameha had beaten Iolani just once. When it mattered the most, however, veteran coach Chris Blake had his players believing in themselves and the result was the program's second straight state title and record 25th overall.
"Our goal is always to play our best match in the last match of the season," said Blake, who has guided the Warriors to 13th during his tenure.
"We're doing a lot of work on the court, we do a lot of work in the weight room, we do a lot of work on the track and it's all a testament to the work ethic of our players, our strength and conditioning staff, but we believe we're built for this," Blake added.
Chock, who was selected as the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, made it clear that there was no underdog mentality for the Warriors.
"I think with the veterans, it allowed for the rest of the team and the rookies to put them in the mindset that we have to push through," she said. "We have to know that we're the defending state champions and that we should keep on fighting and keep on winning no matter what."
New City Nissan/HHSAA Division I Girls Volleyball State ChampionshipsAll-Tournament TeamAs selected by the media and the HHSAA
Kamanao Goldstein, KamehamehaPoema Kalama-Kingma, IolaniBailey Nakanelua, IolaniLeila Paraoan, Kapolei Zaria Queen, MoanaluaTiahna Aldeguer, Kamehameha (setter)Ashli Lum, Kamehameha (libero)Most Outstanding Player: Kalaweloilehua Chock, Kamehameha
They did just that in marching to convincing wins in each of the first two sets. After Iolani retaliated by taking the third set, Kamehameha pulled away late in set 4 to finish off the match.
"We want to be strongest at this point of the season and even after playing four matches this week, you could see with our girls and their ability to be not only physically locked in, but mentally locked in and our leaders took over in set 4 and it's their team now and their ability to believe and execute was important and we were able to pull off that victory in end game, which we're proud of the girls for," Blake said.
The Warriors separated in set 1 with a 10-3 run that turned a one-point deficit into a 21-15 advantage following a kill by setter Tiahna Aldeguer on an Iolani overpass. They finished off the set with a 4-0 run that was spurred by a kill by Chock and followed by three consecutive hitting errors by the Raiders.
Kamehameha pulled away early in set 2 with a 9-1 run that included four blocks. They registered five total blocks in the set. Kealoha Lyons put away a kill out of the middle on set point to give her team a two-sets-to-none advantage.
Iolani struggled with the first touch in each of the first two sets, but came to life in the third. They went on a 9-1 run that included a pair of kills by middle Georgie Lee, an ace by Taimane Ainuu and back-to-back dump shots by setter Bailey Nakanelua. Later in the set they used a 7-2 run to reach set point before an attack error by the Warriors — one of nine they committed in set 3 — sent it to set 4.
"They did a quick switch in set 3 that put us into a bad spot, (but) when we made the switch from set 3 to set 4 our leaders took over in timeout; it's their team now and their ability to believe in those things and what they had to do to execute was important, especially with how we needed to do it. Them running back with us after us having that lead in set 4, we settled down, they executed and we were able to pull off that victory in end game, which we're proud of the girls for," Blake said.
But the Raiders remained resilient late in the fourth set. After coach Kainoa Obrey called a timeout with his team trailing 20-13, Iolani responded by scoring seven of the night eight points to get to within 21-20. However, got kills from Goldstein and Chock sandwiched around a block by Lyons to get to championship point.
On the penultimate point of the match — a long rally that eventually saw Annaura Reid-Gillet record a solo block for Iolani to keep her team within striking distance at 24-22 — Chock rolled her right ankle during the run of play. After the play she affirmed to a concerned Blake that she was good to go.
"It was just looking back at the score and just seeing that we're right there and I was just like, ‘I have to keep on going, I have to do this for the team, I have to do this for the Princess (Pauahi Bishop) and for the program," Chock said.
Fittingly, Chock put away championship point with an attack from the right side that was set-up by a backset from Aldeguer.
"Even if I was gonna look into taking her out, she would probably shake me off and not come out. Her ability to persevere through those challenges, there's no doubt in my mind that she's the tiger and the grinder that she needs to be and for her, she played with heart and she was playing for her teammates and for her to be able to slot that ball when it mattered the most, whether she was injured or not, we're very proud of her, proud of her teammates and we're happy to come out with a win," Blake said.
Chock was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Goldstein, Aldeguer and libero Ashli Lum.
Goldstein came up with a match-high 19 digs, Aldeguer chalked up 52 assists and 16 digs and Lum contributed 15 digs and five assists.
Aldeguer praised the play of Lum and the rest of her teammates for their defense.
"Ash went off and not only her skill, but her mindset was so good today — her mindset's always good but today she really held us together; She was like the glue of our team tonight," Aldeguer said.
Like Chock, Aldeguer said her team's pre-match pep talk put the Warriors in the right frame of mind to rise to the occasion Saturday night.
"Our pre-game was really good because we talked about how we were made for this, how we practiced the entire season and we just had to execute today and that's what we've been working on, so we knew that this was our last game and we have to put it all on the court," Aldeguer said.
Poema Kalama-Kingma was the lone Iolani player to finish with double-digit kills. She put down 13 kills and had 15 digs. Callie Pieper had seven kills and 17 digs, Nakanelua tallied 11 digs, 29 assists and four kills, Ainuu added 11 digs, five kills and two aces and Lee chipped in with five kills, six digs and an ace in the loss.
"Kamehameha played well, they did their thing, but (we) definitely just gained a lot of experience and definitely just gotta learn how to deal with adversity and be better for it," Raiders coach Kainoa Obrey said.
Kalama-Kingma and Nakanelua represented Iolani on the all-tournament team. Kapolei's Leila Paraoan and Moanalua's Zaria Queen rounded out the all-tourney selections.
Kamehameha and Iolani have combined to win the last nine Division I state title since 2015; there was no state tournament in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Raiders were seeking their second state title in three years and their fifth overall.
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