Undefeated Punahou
By Pat Bigold
top seed in state girls’
volleyball tourney
Star-Bulletin
Don't get the Punahou girls' volleyball team mixed up with the boys' team.The girls have won only two state tournaments while the boys have won 20.
So when the Buffanblu have a girls' team that looks like it could win another state crown, no one on campus is yawning.
Punahou is top-seeded for the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Girl's Volleyball Tournament that gets under way tomorrow at the McKinley High School and Punahou gyms and concludes Saturday at the Punahou gym.
The Buffanblu girls (15-0 league, 32-0 overall) recently won their first Interscholastic League of Honolulu title in 15 years and second-year head coach Diana McKibbin has a good feeling about this squad.
"There's a lot of heart here," she said last night. "They really like each other and all the rest falls into place."
Punahou is led by 5-foot-7 outside hitter Tehani Miyashiro, who has committed to play for the University of Hawaii. She leads the team in kills with 3.23 per game and a .302 hitting percentage.
Miyashiro also averages 2.55 digs per game.
"Tehani is one of the finest defensive players around," said McKibbin. "She has great instincts. She passes, digs, blocks, hits."
Then there's 5-8 junior Lindsey Berg, who averages 3.17 kills per game, has a .389 hitting percentage and averages 6.12 assists per game.
"Lindsey opens it up," said McKibbin. "She's a setter and when she gets up front, she can't wait to bang away."
As a team, Punahou has been averaging 13.43 kills per game and has a .321 hitting percentage.
Simply put, Punahou's forte is its offense.
"We have an anxious, aggressive and attacking offense that can put the ball away," said McKibbin.
But she said the defense is also holding its own.
"The kids know that if the attackers are going at it aggressively, there has to be someone there to cover. We'll hit the floor if need be."
The Buffanblu lost out in the final last year to defending state champion Kamehameha. The Warriors are also in the tournament, along with one other ILH team, University High.
McKinley (12-0), the No. 2 seeded Oahu Interscholastic Association champion, is characterized by its defense.
"We are a more defensive team and we have tall players who can hit," said Erin Coker, second-year McKinley head coach. "We train mostly on defense, making our hitters think when they hit so they don't hit into blocks."
The Tigers are led by seniors Marjorie Nepo and Nia Tuitele, who should be among the more exciting players in the tournament.
Nepo is a 5-6 middle blocker and outside hitter.
"She is a great jumper and she can pass," said Coker.
"That's why we don't use her as a setter- so she can pass."
Tuitele is also 5-6 and can play left front or right front.
"Her hands are so soft, she can set anything," said Coker. "My father (the late McKinley coach, Longy Okamoto) said she could take Robyn Ah Mow's place someday."
Coker said she's glad her girls will get to open in their home gym tomorrow.
"They're a little gun-shy because when they played in the OIA finals, they had so many people looking at them and they were in awe of the TV cameras."
The other seeded teams are No. 3 Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion Waiakea and Maui Interscholastic League champion Molokai.
Rounding out the 12-team field are Kauai Interscholastic Federation champion Waimea, Konawaena, Seabury Hall, Farrington, Roosevelt and Waianae.
Scooter Martines, Punahou's powerful right hand-hitting first baseman, said last night he's signing an early letter of intent with Texas Tech University of the Southwest Conference. MARTINES TO TEXAS TECH
The 5-10, 205-pounder, who recovered from a near-debilitating eighth-grade football knee injury, is a two-time ILH all-star (1994, 1996). Always batting in the No. 3 spot in the order, he hit .431 as a freshman and .383 as a junior.
Martines was a linebacker for the Punahou football team that earned a brief national ranking when it upset St. Louis last year.
He said that the Texas Tech coaches seemed to like the fact that he could run.
The 18-year-old Martines, who lives in Palolo Valley, said his final choices came down to Texas Tech and the University of Hawaii.
"I liked Texas Tech because it's in a college-oriented town (Lubbock) and gets a lot of support from the community," he said.
"I could concentrate on studies and baseball there."
Martines said he also liked the stadium, which has a turf infield and grass outfield.
"My goal right now is to get a state championship this year for Punahou and then take it to the next level - Omaha," he said.
Martines is also a pro prospect. He said he'll keep his mind open about the draft next June.
The State Cross Country Meet will be held Friday morning at the Hawaii Preparatory Academy campus on the Big Island. STATE CROSS COUNTRY
The girls' race starts at 9 a.m. and the boys' race at 9:40 a.m.
Favorites are two-time defending boys' champion Matt Stevens of Hawaii Baptist Academy and defending girls' champion Eri Macdonald of Punahou.
Al Apo, who led Kamehameha to five state girls' basketball titles, has stepped aside as head coach for unexplained reasons. TOP HOOP COACH OUT
Apo would not comment on the surprising turn of events but it appears that the decision was made by the Kamehameha athletic department.
No successor has been named.
Apo said he's most proud of the four consecutive state titles between 1990 and 1993, when Nani Cockett was the team's sparkplug.
"I always tell her that she's the only girl to leave school with four state basketball championships," he said.
Apo, a math teacher at the high school since 1969, will continue teaching and coach ninth grade boys basketball.
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