ILH Boys Volleyball
Punahou surges past Kamehameha, 21-25, 25-20, 25-19


Wes Nakama
April 12, 2011, 8:20pm

  

Tue, Apr 12, 2011 @ Punahou [ 6:00 pm ]

Kamehameha

1

Punahou

2

 1   2   3   4   5      
KSK (21-3) 25 20 19 - - 1
PUN (21-1) 21 25 25 - - 2


Rebounding from a disappointing loss to the nation's No. 1-ranked high school boys volleyball team on Saturday, Punahou rallied past Interscholastic League of Honolulu rival Kamehameha, 21-25, 25-20, 25-19 last night.

A vibrant crowd of about 550 at Hemmeter Fieldhouse watched the Buffanblu -- ranked No. 5 by ESPN Rise -- improve to 15-2 overall and 10-0 in league play. The Warriors, ranked No. 6, fell to 12-2, 11-1.

Punahou was swept by No. 1 Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), 25-22, 25-10, 26-24, but that is now ancient history to the Buffanblu. Just as last night's victory will be for them soon.

"It feels great now, but like Coach (Rick Tune) said, we gotta forget about it tomorrow and keep working," said Punahou senior Ben Lam, who finished with 12 kills. "We've still got almost half our season still in front of us."

Kamehameha showed how the Buffanblu cannot afford to relax, taking the lead in the first set at 10-9 and not letting go. The Warriors built it to 21-13 before Punahou closed it to 23-20 on a kill by freshman Tui Tuileta.

A serve error then made it 24-20 before the Buffanblu misplayed a tip shot to put the Warriors up, one game to zero.

"Kamehameha played a real solid first set, they didn't make errors," Tune said. "We were not playing smart volleyball, and it's hard when you shoot yourself in the foot like that."

Punahou regrouped and never trailed in the second set, though the Warriors stayed close and trailed just 21-20 after a kill by Micah Christenson. The Buffanblu then answered with Sean Gruebner's kill followed by two Kamehameha hitting errors.

Kupono Fey then tied the match at one game apiece with a solo block.

"When we played 'Iolani last week, it was the same thing -- we lost the first set," Lam said. "We just had to take that experience and turn it into something positive again."

Punahou took control early again in the third set, building leads of 8-4, 15-9 and 21-14. The middle attack -- with Lam and Brandon Pitzer pounding several quick sets -- was particularly effective.

"We needed to form a better block," Kamehameha coach Kainoa Downing said. "It's not like they were hitting over us, we just didn't set the block where it needed to be."

Tuileta finished with 11 kills, many on well-placed offspeed shots, and two aces. Christenson led the Warriors with 12 kills.



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