OIA Boys Volleyball
Na Menehune extend reign atop OIA boys volleyball with four-set win over Trojans


Kalani Takase | ScoringLive
May 7, 2026, 12:31am

  

Wed, May 6, 2026 @ Radford [ 7:00 pm ]

Mililani

1

Moanalua

3

FINAL  1   2   3   4   5      
MIL (14-3) 24 25 15 22 - 1
MOA (16-0) 26 22 25 25 - 3
Kill: L. Gannon (MOA) 24 kills
Blk: T. Chung (MOA) 8 blk
Ast: I. Holeso (MIL) 30 ast


ALIAMANU — Moanalua's reign continues. 

Lionel Gannon and Loa McCutcheon totaled 46 kills and combined to hit .304 to lead No. 4 Moanalua to its seventh consecutive league title with a four-set win over No. 5 Mililani Wednesday night. 

The set scores were 26-24, 22-25, 25-15 and 25-22. 

A crowd of about 500 fans at Radford's Jim Alegre Gymnasium saw Na Menehune (13-0) lay claim to their 15th Oahu Interscholastic Association championship and their 13th in the last 14 years. 

The Trojans (11-2), who saw their 10-match win streak come to an end, were seeking their second league crown and first since 2017. 

Both Moanalua and Mililani were the No. 1 seeds from the Eastern and Western divisions, respectively. While the upset-minded Trojans were able to take a set off of the Menes — just the second they've dropped all season — ultimately, the six-time defending champs proved to be too much. 

The senior duo of Gannon and McCutcheon figured prominently in Moanalua's title defense. 

Gannon, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter, recorded a double-double with 24 kills and 10 digs. He hit .319 with nine errors in 47 swinga and was in on four of Moanalua's 10 team blocks. Gannon also served up two of his team's three aces. 

McCutcheon, a 6-foot-3 pin hitter, put down 22 kills against nine errors on 45 total swings (.289 attack percentage). He came up with eight digs and the Menes' other ace from the service line. 

Moanalua coach Alan Cabanting described how the pair have proven to be complementary to one another. 

"Loa had more kills than Lionel had in our last match and so when either one of them is struggling we can depend on the other to pick up the slack," Cabanting said. 

McCutcheon got off to a bit of a slow start Wednesday, while Gannon was hot from the get-go. Eventually the former overcame his stumble out of the gates with a strong finish to the match. 

"Kudos to Mililani because they served Loa a ton and it kind of got shaky for him a little bit and then once he settled down and the passes were starting to get better he started to really execute," Cabanting said. 

After it faced a 21-19 deficit, Moanalua rallied with a 7-3 run to take the opening set. However, Mililani returned the favor in set 2, when it turned a 17-15 deficit into a 25-22 set victory that was capped by a Kaito Duranceau cross-court kill. 

Gannon said the Menes put an emphasis on serve-receive after the Trojans evened the match at a set apiece. 

"After set two we just really wanted to focus on keeping the passes off the net. I think that's what we struggled with really, it was our serve and pass. It kind of brought us down, but then we were able to regroup really fast and then after that it was just easy: pass off the net, set our hitters — we have some great hitters that can all contribute — and then we were able to just side out," Gannon said. 

Moanalua turned the tide is set 3, when it hit .450 as a team and held Mililani to a .036 attack percentage. 

Jerome Obrero capped the Menes' first of two 9-3 runs in set 3. His kill culminated a string of four straight points that gave his team a 10-7 cushion. Vaolele Tauane's solo block finished off their second 9-3 run, which coincided with set point. 

Cabanting's squad posted four blocks in set 3, a direct result of some tough serving. After it racked up eight service errors through two sets, Moanalua cut that number down to two service errors in the third set. 

"It was good and I think everyone was staying very disciplined. It honestly helped that later we were serving the ball significantly tougher. I missed way too many serves tonight, but towards the end I was kind of able to dial it in a little bit and keep it in and then I think that contributed a lot to our team success," Gannon said. 

Cabanting said that the aggressiveness at the service line was by design. 

"For the most part, In that first and second set we had a green light to go and attack no matter what on the serves, especially our two spin servers — knowing that our float servers are going to consistently keep the balls in — so they had green lights to just go after their serve," Cabanting disclosed. 

The Menes' strategy to apply pressure on the Trojans' primary passers was a means of limiting the quality of attacks its own duo of pin hitters — Duranceau, and Seth Kimura — would get. 

"Their two pins are deadly so we needed to make sure we put up blocks every single time they attack. We knew that they were going to score points, but we wanted to make sure that it was difficult for them to score points and so at every opportunity, every time they're going to the pin, we wanted a block on there," Cabanting said. 

Duranceau led the Trojans with 18 kills, 10 digs and three aces. He hit .204, but Kimura was held to a minus-.043 attack percentage; Kimura finished with five kills and six attack errors on 23 total swings. 

"We were trying to break down Duranceau and Kimura on their passing and their defense, but they held strong so we went to a different serving attack and so once we got that going the passes weren't as crisp as before and then, of course, our servers put a little bit extra heat on our serve and that kind of caused them into chaos and allowed us to execute a couple more times," Cabanting said. 

Mililani trailed Moanalua late in set 4, 21-20, but Cabanting's squad got back-to-back kills from McCutcheon on the left side to spur a match-ending 4-2 run. Gannon fittingly finished off the match with his 24th kill on a cross-court shot that landed about a foot inside the end line. 

"It's great, but it's what we expect, to be honest," Gannon said of the OIA title. 

"We come into practice every day knowing that we have the pieces to do it and if we just put in the work and execute the right way, there's no one that can stop us," he added. 

Setters Colby Kawaa and Christian Cruz dished out 22 and 20 assists, respectively, and each tallied four digs in the win. Libero Darric Abe posted a match-high 11 digs. 

Taylor Chung took just eight swings, but chipped in five kills against only one error. Chun also registered one solo block and seven block assists. 

Moanalua hit .287 as a team, while Mililani hit .104. 

Duranceau led the Trojans with 18 kills, 10 digs and three aces. Setter Isaiah Holeso had 30 assists and eight digs in the loss. 

Gannon spoke highly of Mililani's effort across the net Wednesday. 

"They're super good. They really gave us a run for our money. They have some really great pieces, they put the ball away in very clutch moments and it was great that we were able to come out there and do our best and eventually beat them, but props to them; they're really good," Gannon said. 

Both teams had already secured a spot in next week's New City Nissan/HHSAA Boys Volleyball State Championships. 

Na Menehune will have a first-round bye, while the Trojans will host a first-round game on Monday. 


Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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