Punahou, Kamehameha-Hawaii advance to state volleyball semifinals

Nov. 9—The ILH reigned supreme in girls Division I volleyball on Wednesday.

The ILH reigned supreme in girls Division I volleyball on Wednesday.

The private-school runner-up Punahou Buffanblu ousted the OIA champion Mililani Trojans 25-13, 25-14, 22-25, 25-16 to advance to the semifinals of the New City Nissan /HHSAA Girls Volleyball State Championships at McKinley gym.

Lulu Uluave, seemingly recovered from a leg injury, had 10 of her 19 kills in the fourth set. Haumea Marumoto led the Buffanblu with 21 kills. Setter Rella Binney dished 51 assists and added four aces, three kills and a block. Evelyn Kilisi added nine kills and four blocks, and Kealohalani Cox tallied six kills and one block.

"We just wanted to get better every game. It started with Kahuku (on Monday ). They're a good team. Every day we want to get 1 percent better and the girls showed it, " Punahou coach Tita Ahuna said. "Mililani's a good team. They're going to come back fighting, but we showed perseverance. We stuck to it and came out with a win."

For good measure, Uluave added three aces for Punahou (29-5 ).

"Lulu's Lulu. You're not going to stop her. Even if you want her to sit down. Tonight, she was jumping out of the stratosphere. Couple of her hits were supersonic booms. Haumea just did a fantastic job. Rella did a great job keeping everyone together. Everybody did great tonight, " Ahuna said.

Kamehameha-Hawaii beat Punahou in preseason, and also eliminated Punahou from last year's state tourney.

"They're a great team. We don't take any team lightly. Every team in this tourney belongs here, " Ahuna said.

Erica Roberts had 17 kills and Alexis Rodriguez added 10 for Mililani (16-4 ). Anae Asuncion finished with 32 assists and one kill.

Mililani had not faced this kind of adversity since losing to Kahuku in preseason at the Hawaii Invitational, way back on Aug. 19. The Lady Trojans ran the table in the OIA West, then won nine out of 10 sets to cruise through the playoffs for the OIA title. In all, 13 consecutive wins in league play over a two-month stretch.

Meanwhile, Punahou lost four of its last six matches in ILH play—the losses were against Kamehameha—before the state tournament.

No. 2 Kamehameha-Hawaii 3, Roosevelt 0 Maela Honma supplied 18 kills as second-seeded Kamehameha-Hawaii swept Roosevelt 25-19, 25-17, 25-17 to advance to the semifinal round of the New City Nissan /HHSAA Girls Volleyball State Championships on Wednesday night.

"We're lucky to win, " Warriors coach Guy Enriques said. "Now we know what to fix."

The BIIF champion Warriors (28-5 ) will play Punahou 5 p.m. today at Moanalua.

Honma was the constant for the Warriors. Cayla Carter tallied eight kills, and middle Mia Polloi had seven kills and three blocks. Shay Beals chipped in five kills.

Sophomore Kealohi Dudoit had five key aces, all during a second-set run that propelled a Kamehameha-Hawaii rally. Enriques believes his team's best match is still to come. Honma hit.327 from all angles, but her coach expects more in the semifinals.

"We're young, so what you see out there is youth. We like to give the other team leads, " Enriques said. "Roosevelt played very well. They outserved us. Kudos to them. This wasn't Maela's best night. You will see when she has a good night, she's a pretty incredible player. We depend on her a lot."

Malie Kuamoo delivered 35 assists, three kills and one ace for the Warriors.

Dylan Hall led Roosevelt (11-15 ) with eight kills. Piilani Hirahara dished 27 assists and had two aces. Roosevelt endured through unique adversity, having no gym to practice in, traveling to all its matches.

"We had our moments. We let them get away, too many long runs, " Roosevelt assistant coach Janell Kini said. "That was definitely a tough loss. They have a lot more in them. We played with a little bit of hesitation instead of playing the way we can."

The Rough Riders fell behind 10-5 in the opening set, but rallied for a 12-11 lead after an ace by Caitlyn Kukumu. After a kill by Israiah Sexton-Tua, it was 13-11.

Kamehameha-Hawaii recallibrated against Roosevelt's tough serve. Kuamoo began to find Cayla Carter and middle Mia Polloi along with a steady diet of Honma from the back row and either side. The Warriors also got two blocks from Polloi to close the first game with a 14-6 run.

Roosevelt bounced back for a 5-1 lead to open set two, but Kealoha Dudoit mystified the Rough Riders with three aces during a stunning 10-1 run. The left-hander changed speeds and locations to help the Warriors regain momentum.

After a Roosevelt time out, Dudoit dropped in two more aces to fuel the Warriors, who extended the lead to 19-7. A sloppy finish that included three hitting errors by Kamehameha-Hawaii allowed Roosevelt to cut the lead to 23-17, but the Rough Riders got no closer.

Roosevelt took a 5-0 lead in Game 3, and again Kamehameha-Hawaii rallied. Down 13-10, the Warriors came back from a time out and began to double-block Hal.

The Warriors tied it at 14 on back-to-back aces by Ziona Launiu. Kills by Honma and Kuamoo helped open the lead to 18-14.

Roosevelt got within 18-16, but with Dudoit at serve, Kamehameha-Hawaii went on a 4-0 run and rolled to the sweep.

DIVISION II QUARTERFINALS No. 1 Mid-Pacific 3, Maui Prep 0 Nikko Stack had seven kills and the Owls served up 18 aces in a 25-10, 25-3, 25-17 triumph over Na Pueo at Ka-lani.

Charis Kai had seven aces and Payton Smith added five for Mid-Pacific, which plays Hawaii Baptist in the semifi-nals at 7 p.m. today at Ka-lani.

Lauren Brown finished with five kills for Maui Prep.

Hawaii Baptist 3, No. 4 Hawaii Prep 0 Marisa Nakata finished with 22 kills and Caitlin Wong added 11 as the Eagles defeated Ka Makani 25-15, 25-18, 25-17 at Kalani.

Margot Lewis had eight kills for Hawaii Prep.

Damien 3, No. 2 Waialua 0 Kaila Kalama-Bajet had 16 kills and Kiana Cueto added 12 kills and 12 digs as the Monarchs beat the Bulldogs 25-15, 25-15, 25-17 at Kaimuki.

Damien will play Univer-sity in the semifinals today at 5 p.m. at Kalani.

Brynn Basilio-Chun had three kills and seven digs for Waialua.

University 3, No. 3 Seabury Hall 0 Liliana Dutcher finished with 10 kills, and Aleya Bap-tiste and Maiah Kali-ma-Izumi each added nine in the Junior Bows' 25-17, 25-19, 27-25 win over the Spar-tans at Kaimuki.

Mayah Nakasato recorded 35 assists and nine digs for University.

Makalani Carey had nine kills for Seabury Hall.