ILH Boys Volleyball
Punahou staves off 'Iolani in three, 25-22, 26-24, 25-23


Wes Nakama
April 29, 2011, 9:51pm

  


Fri, Apr 29, 2011 @ Iolani [ 6:00 pm ]

Punahou

3

Iolani

0

 1   2   3   4   5      
PUN (21-1) 25 26 25 - - 3
IOL (16-4) 22 24 23 - - 0
Kill: G. Vega (IOL) 15 kills
Blk: B. Lam (PUN) 5 blk
Using its multiple weapons to earn crucial late-set points, Punahou swept 'Iolani in three close games last night, 25-22, 26-24, 25-23 in a key Intercholastic League of Honolulu boys volleyball showdown.

The Buffanblu, ranked No. 4 in the nation by ESPN Rise, improved to 16-0 in ILH play with a match against No. 33 Maryknoll (11-5) at 10 a.m. today. 'Iolani, ranked No. 22, fell to 13-3 and has another critical home match at 1 p.m. today against No. 6 Kamehameha (15-1), which plays host to Punahou on Monday.

"Today was a huge weight off our shoulders, but we've got Maryknoll tomorrow," said Punahou freshman Tui Tuileta, who finished with a team-high 14 kills last night. "We've got to think about Maryknoll before we think about Kamehameha."

The ability to focus late in all three sets helped the Buffanblu last night, as the Raiders were just a play or two away from swinging each game the other way.

Punahou took a 4-3 lead in the first set on a kill by Ben Lam and stretched it to 9-5 and 11-6, but 'Iolani hung tough and closed it to 24-22 on Clint Hamada's solo block.

Tuileta then ended it with an angle shot from the left side.

The Raiders led Game 2, 8-5, after Logan Nowack's kill but the Buffanblu responded with an 8-2 run sparked by Brandon Pitzer's two kills and a block to grab a 13-10 lead. 'Iolani got two aces from Charles Yoon totie it up at 13-13, and the teams traded points until a 5-0 run pushed Punahou ahead, 20-17.

The Raiders then fought back again and took a 21-20 lead on a Punahou error, and it went back-and-fourth until Sean Gruebner's rocket spike put the Buffanblu up, 25-24.

Punahou then took a 2-0 match lead when 'Iolani mis-timed an attack, leaving a "2" set in the air without being hit.

"We're so close, just a couple plays away," Raiders coach Mike Among said. "(The Buffanblu) would scramble and save and send a free ball over, but we aren't ready for it. We gotta focus better mentally and make those kind of plays if we want to beat teams like that."

'Iolani led the third set, 20-16, after a block by Haryson Lum, but Gruebner got two kills and a block and Kupono Fey landed a kill to cap a 6-1 run that pushed Punahou ahead, 22-21.

Gabriel Vega's kill off a block tied it up at 22-22, but a serving error gave the Buffanblu the lead again and Tuileta dropped an offspeed shot from the back row to make it 24-22.

After a net violation by Punahou, the Raiders committed another serve error to end it. 

"In the beginning of the season, those last five points of a set were a little different game for us and we struggled a bit," Buffanblu coach Rick Tune said. "We have a young team so we tried to keep things simple, but now it's all in system and we're trying to shift gears and see how fast this race car can go."

Gruebner and Lam each finished with eight kills, and Lam added five blocks. Fey contributed with five kills and Pitzer had three kills and two blocks.

Vega had a match-high 15 kills to lead 'Iolani, with Nowack adding eight kills and Colin Tseng finishing with seven kills and two aces.



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