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Saturday, November 11, 2000
Punahou is the In the locker room before the biggest match of their lives, the Punahou girls' volleyball players focused on unfinished business.
best in the state
Macfarlane leads the Buffanblu
girls' volleyball team past upstart
St. Francis in an all-ILH finalReppun named boys'
MVP in twin-winResults, all-tournament teams in Scoreboard
By Tim Crouse
Special to the Star-BulletinThen they went out and completed their mission by winning the state championship, defeating St. Francis, 15-5, 15-8, yesterday in front of 2,385 fans at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Senior outside hitter Kaleo Kaaihue had her best match of the week, pacing Punahou with seven kills, and sophomore middle Puna Richardson had six winners.
The Buffanblu took the lead for good at 8-7 in the second game on a Troubadour hitting error, and never allowed St. Francis to get back into the game.
Senior outside hitter Melissa Wilton and Kaaihue each had two kills down the stretch to seal the win.
It was the first title for the Buffanblu since 1996 and their fourth overall.
"We visualize doing our jobs," senior Caroline Ane said of a pre-game ritual that sometimes includes turning off the lights.
Buffanblu coach Diana McKibbon said her players go through plays in their heads and think about individual responsibilities.
"They play their own little mental games. It helps them prepare and keeps them on track," McKibbon said.
Punahou was so focused throughout the tournament that it didn't lose a single game and was only seriously challenged twice during its five matches -- when it escaped with a 16-14 win in game one against Moanalua in the semifinals and when it had to come back from an 8-1 deficit in a game against Waiakea.
After a season of concentrating on winning a title that had eluded the Buffanblu last year, the victory against the Troubadours was sweet indeed.
"It's better than I could have possibly imagined," said junior outside hitter Michelle Look.
"It's one of the greatest feelings I've ever had," said senior setter and tournament MVP Milia Macfarlane.
For McKibbon, it was a proper reward for a season of hard work.
"It's been a long season, a long road with many of these seniors," she said. "It's so gratifying to see them end on such a positive note. I'm so happy for them."
A breakthrough season for St. Francis -- which made its tournament debut -- may not have ended with a championship, but the week of memories wasn't lost on the players.
"This has been such a great experience for us," senior outside hitter Kalae Araujo said. "We tried our best and unfortunately it wasn't enough."
Punahou is the The championship spirit and tradition of the Punahou boys' volleyball team -- and the thunderous hitting of Will Reppun -- were just enough for the Buffanblu to survive a roller-coaster season and capture a seventh consecutive state volleyball championship.
best in the state
Most valuable player Reppun
is one reason why the Buffanblu
are the top boys' volleyball teamBy Tim Crouse
Special to the Star-BulletinPunahou tottered on the brink of elimination in the semifinals at the Stan Sheriff Center yesterday, but managed to survive a thrilling match against Kalaheo and then sweep Kamehameha to claim the title.
The Buffanblu outlasted the Mustangs earlier in the day, 13-15, 15-13, 15-13, in a championship-caliber match that lasted nearly two hours, before taking care of the Warriors, 15-8, 15-12.
"That's the best I've seen them play all year," Kamehameha coach Pono Maa said. "You stick them with something like that (the gruelling semifinal match), and they find a way to have their best match at the end.
"Some of it's coaching, some of it's the players and some of it is the tradition," he said. "They are there for a reason."
Reppun, a senior outside hitter, registered 21 kills against Kalaheo and 15 more in the finals.
He hit a robust .323 against Kamehameha, with only five errors in 31 swings.
"It's better than the other years because as a team captain I had to lead the team somewhere and I felt like I was able to do that," said Reppun.
"We lost more matches (four) than I've ever lost in my career but I think it helped build character for us."
Punahou lost to Kamehameha on Oct. 3 in a match for the Interscholastic League of Honolulu first-round title -- squandering a 14-9 lead in the final game -- and had to struggle to win a mini-playoff for the second-round crown and a berth in state tournament.
"Sometimes we weren't very pretty but we found a way to get it done," Punahou coach Scott Rigg said. "They all got pretty quiet there for a while (before the championship match). I think they saw what was in front of them, that we could make the comeback all the way from where we were at the end of the first round. They dug awfully deep tonight."
Punahou took a 10-5 lead in the first game against Kamehameha, and got big kills from Reppun and Kea Kometani to secure the win.
Kamehameha took an 11-7 lead in the second game, but after Ruppun planted a kill for sideout, Punahou scored the next six points.
After the Warriors closed to 13-12, Reppun came through with a kill and Kamehameha hit the ball into the net on match point.
"Punahou put a lot of pressure on us," Maa said. "They attacked us on our service and we couldn't get into any rhythm. They were relentless."
In the semifinals, Kalaheo took the first game from Punahou and led 11-10 in the second, but couldn't finish off the champions.
"We had the whole gym believing that there was a chance that Punahou might not be in the championship game," Kalaheo coach Mel Furtado said.
Kaimi Guerreiro, the Mustangs' sensational senior outside hitter, landed awkwardly on an ankle midway through the first game after soaring high for a kill, and appeared to be in some discomfort the rest of the match. He finished with a team-high 20 kills.
Kalaheo won the first game behind the hitting of Guerreiro and junior middle Ikaika Francis, who had perhaps the best match of his career.
Francis consistently slammed kills over the Punahou block, and assisted with Justin Padrina in blocking five Buffanblu kill attempts.
After trailing 11-10 in the second game, the Buffanblu scored the next four points, with the help of a Reppun block and kill on successive plays, and held off a late Kalaheo rally to win the game.
Punahou led throughout the third game, and took a commanding 12-7 lead on a Kometani ace and a kill by Lam.