OIA Boys Volleyball
No. 6 Mililani downs No. 7 Radford, extends win streak to eight games


Kalani Takase | ScoringLive
April 17, 2026, 6:14am

  

Thu, Apr 16, 2026 @ Mililani [ 6:30 pm ]

Radford

1

Mililani

3

FINAL  1   2   3   4   5      
RAD (11-5) 17 27 16 20 - 1
MIL (14-3) 25 26 25 25 - 3
Kill: K. Duranceau (MIL) 18 kills
Blk: B. Sullivan (RAD) 5 blk
Ast: I. Holeso (MIL) 46 ast


MILILANI — Kaito Duranceau put down a match-high 18 kills to lead No. 6 Mililani to a four-set win over No. 7 Radford in the final game of the regular season for both teams Thursday night. 

Zyrus Alailima and Seth Kimura tallied 12 kills apiece and Isaiah Holeso registered 46 assists for the Trojans (9-1), who have won eight consecutive matches since their lone blemish at Campbell nearly a month ago. 

The Rams (8-2) had won four straight since their four-set loss to Mililani back on March 31. 

Both teams had already locked up a first-round bye in the upcoming OIA Division I tournament. With the win, the Trojans secured the Western Division's top seed in the 12-team tournament, while the Rams will be the No. 2 seed. 

Mililani coach Gabriel Maunupau referred back to that four-set loss in Ewa Beach on March 19 as a turning point in his team's season. 

"I think starting the year with that second-game loss was huge for us because we had to make some significant changes to prepare for what we weren't expecting and I think that hardened us a little bit to kind of get us ready for what we're kind of in — this upward trend, if you will — moving towards the playoffs," said Maunupau, whose squad has dropped just three sets since. 

Among the revelations for the Trojans this year has been the evolution of Alailima, whose transformation from a middle blocker to a right-side hitter, has been compounded with the prolific production of Duranceau and Seth Kimura at the pins. Maunupau also pointed out the key contributions from middles Tyler Carvalho and Moises Murillo as having served his team well this spring. 

"It's nice because we've been working on that all year. Early in the season we were just kind of going to Set and Kaito, but having Zyrus be this powerful oppo, and getting that dynamic duo with our two middles involved as well, has just added a lot of value for us when we're stuck in rotation," Maunupau said. 

Murillo accounted for seven kills, while Carvalho put away four. The pair were in on seven blocks. 

Mililani closed out the opening set with a 5-0 run that was spurred by back-to-back kills from Kimura on the left side. After a Radford attack error extended the Trojans' lead to 23-17, Holeso served up consecutive aces to finish set 1. 

The Trojans tallied six aces in all and surrendered only two aces by the Rams. Duranceau said it was the team's efficiency on the first touch that allowed Holeso the opportunity to spread the ball around to his multitude of attackers. 

"That was really good because our serve-receive was really good to the point where we could run our middles a lot and it kept the blockers from going to the outside and oppo, so it was a really good thing," Duranceau assessed.

Maunupau agreed with Duranceau's sentiment. 

"We've been working really hard in the back row because that was something that was hurting us last year and we put a major emphasis on that in practice. All of my pins, including my second team have been working hard and getting a lot of volume of reps, so it's nice to see that some of these things are finally coming to fruition. You just don't know what's going to happen when it's live and under the pressure, but I think they did a really good job," Maunupau said. 

Conversely, the Trojans served tough, which led to some struggles staying in system for the Rams, whose hitters often were forced to swing from several feet off the net. 

"I thought our pressure with the serves was really good because it kept their strong hitters in the front from being able to hit hard and that helped us a lot," Duranceau said. 

The teams went back and forth in a tightly-contested second set. Mililani had set point at 26-25, but Afi Togafau's kill down the line off an assist from Allen Hey Medrano knotted it up before an attack by the Trojans sailed wide to even the match. 

Maunupau said the conversation in the team huddle between sets 2 and 3 centered on cleaning things up. 

"It was just about recognition of how many unforced errors we provided to keep them in the match. We were doing too much in situations where we just had to be more technical, maybe a little bit more intelligent with our shots and I think that would have made a big difference because even despite those holes we only lost by one point," Maunupau lamented of his team's 12 attack errors in set 2. 

Early in set 3, Mililani used a 5-1 run to turn a 5-all tie into a 10-6 advantage. The run included a pair of Duranceau kills from the left side and was capped by a Holeso-Murillo double-block. 

Duranceau chalked up five kills in the third set alone. 

"I wanted to be more aggressive and I was calling for every single ball and just keeping pressure off of the other people," he said. 

Later in the set, Murillo and Holeso once again teamed up for a block on the right side, which gave their team a 19-13 cushion and ignited a set-closing 7-3 run. Alailima accounted for three of the final four points in the 25-16 set victory. 

Mililani recorded four of its seven total blocks in the third set. Early on in the match, it was Radford's block that proved effective. Maunupau credited his front row for making adjustments at the net as the match went on. 

"I think it was just decision making in terms of where are we gonna double team, what are we looking at in free-ball situations?," Maunupau said. "We were chasing too many phantom balls and I think we started getting a little bit more disciplined and watching the ball and hitter and taking advantage of the consistent swing — just same spot, same place — and just read the ball and make a better adjustment."

Duranceau pointed out that the work of the front row players paid dividends for their passers.  

"It was a really big thing because it helped our back row and kept pressure off of them since we can easily read because everything from the back row is just off the block, so everyone just stayed disciplined as a team together and it just helped out a lot," Duranceau described. 

The fifth set was tied at 7, but the Trojans took the lead for good on a Carvalho kill in the middle. Carvalho then teamed with Kimura on a block on the very next play, part of a 6-2 run that was capped by another Duranceau kill that made the score 13-9. 

Maunupau said Durance's performance Thursday differed largely from his effort in practice on Wednesday.

"What's funny is last night's practice was really rough for him and he got a little scolded because he needed some motivation and adjustment, but I think having him in club, knowing how to handle him and telling him what he needs to hear so that he can be proficient came out and he was a big reason why we won tonight," Maunupau shared. 

Alailima's back-to-back kills later in the set finished off a 5-1 run that put his team two points from victory. The Rams retaliated by scoring four of the next five points to pull within 24-20, but Murillo ended the night with a middle attack off a back set from Holeso. 

Duranceau said the Trojans were keen not to take the Rams lightly. 

"We knew how good they were and we weren't complacent. We just had to play our game, play together as a team, not fall to the pressure and play hard. Everyone had to their own job I order for us to win because it's a team sport and it can't be just one person carrying us," Duranceau said. 

Blake Sullivan led Radford with six kills and three block assists. Micah Kalima-Keohohina, Mark Villejo, Connor Dannemiller, Tui Ika and Togafu each put down five kills. Kalima-Keohohina also finished with 14 assists in the loss. 

Mililani, which was coming off of a four-set win over Leilehua Tuesday, will be on the opposite side of the bracket from OIA East top seed Moanalua. 

After capturing both the league and state crown in Division II a year ago, Radford moved up to D1 this season. The Rams will be battle-tested as they enter the playoffs, having gone to five sets three times in the regular season, including Tuesday's road win at Campbell. 


Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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