Friday, November 9, 2001
Maui had to put in some overtime to advance to today's quarterfinals of the Nissan State Boys Volleyball Championships. Maui squeaks into quarters
Kekuhaupio matches long on excitementBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comThe Sabers, Pool D's top seed, defeated Moanalua 15-6 in a one-game playoff yesterday at McKinley High School's gym to survive pool play and move on to the single-elimination phase of the tournament.
"We didn't come out strong in the first game, so it's nice we had to earn it," Maui coach Albert Paschoal said.
The playoff was a result of a three-way tie -- Maui, Moanalua and Waimea -- in Pool C. All three teams finished with 1-1 records. The first tiebreaker, games won minus games lost, was thrown out as all three matches were two-game sweeps.
Waimea opened the tournament with a 15-7, 15-13 win over Maui. Moanalua then knocked off Waimea 15-12, 15-11. But Maui rebounded with a 16-14, 17-15 win over Moanalua.Waimea lucked out in the three-way coin toss, giving the Menehunes first place in the pool. Maui then beat Moanalua for the last spot in the quarterfinals.
The Sabers will face Iolani, which went 2-0 in Pool D today, at 4:45 at Blaisdell Arena. Waimea will take on Pool D runner-up Kealakehe at 7:15.
Maui jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the playoff match, and led by as much as 9-2 en route to the win.
Maui middle blocker Dionisio Dante led the Sabers with four kills and a block, while Kimo Helekahi had two aces.
Dante, who hammered a match-high 17 kills in the first meeting between the teams, was on the bench for much of the playoff as he was rotated out of the game when he went to the back row.
"It's more than Dio on this team," Paschoal said. "That's why we got here. Everybody had a good game."
The Sabers must recover quickly to face a hot Iolani squad in the quarterfinals.
The Raiders, who beat seven-time champ Punahou last week to get into the tournament, shook off some early jitters to beat Farrington 15-10, 13-15, 15-8. They then beat Kealakehe 15-9, 17-15 in the final regularly scheduled match of the day.
"We were expecting to peak at the right time and there's no better time than now," Iolani coach Luis Ramirez said. "And we are definitely peaking."
Iolani senior outside hitter Jonathan Grobe led the Raiders with 17 kills against Farrington and 13 against Kealakehe.
"All of this is new to us, and we had some pre-game jitters, being in the state tournament," Grobe said. "Once we got in the flow, things started to click and everybody played well as a team."
Kealakehe moved on to the quarterfinals by virtue of its 7-15, 15-4, 15-12 win over Farrington, and gave Iolani a battle, thanks to the blocking of Eli Sather. The 6-foot-5 senior, who hadn't played volleyball before this season, recorded seven blocks against Iolani.
"He played outstanding, did a great job and brought us back in the game with his blocks," Kealakehe coach Kahinu Lee said.
Nothing came easy on the first day of the Nissan Boys State Volleyball Championships at Kekuhaupio Gym. Kekuhaupio matches
long on excitementBy Tim Crouse
tcrouse@starbulletin.comThe competing teams squeezed every ounce of excitement out of the first-round pool play matches, with three contests going to a decisive third game -- and Kalaheo and Waiakea going all the way to a final deciding point.
But in the end, the favored teams stayed alive to reach today's quarterfinals at Blaisdell Arena.
Oahu Interscholastic Association champion Pearl City needed three games to get past Seabury Hall in an early match, 16-14, 12-15, 15-13, then swept Hilo 15-8, 16-14 -- after trailing 8-0 in the second game.
"We're just happy to be out (of pool play). We had two horrendous matches," Pearl City coach Reid Shigemasa said.
The Chargers (15-0) won Pool B and face Kalaheo today at 6 p.m.
Top-seeded Kamehameha (17-0) was the only team that didn't struggle, handily beating Waiakea and Kalaheo.
"We've never been this cohesive. Everybody cares about each other, they're pulling for each other. It's like the classic team," Kamehameha coach Pono Maa said.
Kamehameha won Pool A and meets Seabury Hall today at 3:30 p.m..
In the first game of the Pearl City-Seabury Hall match yesterday, the Chargers needed a late rally to win. Seabury Hall led 14-12 and Pearl City fought off five game points. Middle blocker Kapena Wong came up big with a block and a kill late and the Chargers won the game on a Spartans hitting error.
Pearl City jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the third game, but Seabury Hall charged back to tie it at 13. Middle blocker Michael Adams provided a huge kill for sideout and the Chargers won the match on a block and a Wong kill.
"It took an unexperienced guy to (end) that large rally," Shigemasa said. He said he was nervous when the ball was set to Adams, but the junior came through.
"He did his job," Shigemasa said. "It seemed like they were getting (down) on themselves. The passing wasn't working, the setting wasn't working, as well as the outside. But every so often they came up with a three- or four-point spurt and they got away with a win."
Seabury Hall advanced to the quarterfinals behind a season-best performance by senior outside hitter Brian Bollinger. Bollinger turned in a 30-kill, four-block performance in a three-game victory over Hilo. He followed that up with 17 kills and five blocks in the narrow loss to Pearl City.
Teammate Corey Spence added 26 kills, four blocks and three aces for the Spartans (13-4).
"That's the best they've ever played," Seabury Hall coach Dan Molin said. "You can't really ask for anything more. Traditionally we've done fairly well at states, as good as we could do. We always peak at the end of the season."
The closest finish of the day featured Kalaheo and Waiakea. In the deciding third game the Mustangs scored three straight points for a 12-8 lead. But the Warriors rallied back to take a 14-12 lead behind three kills by Taurean Paakaula.
Waiakea had five serves at match point, but Kalaheo came up with a sideout each time. Waiakea took a 15-14 lead but again was unable to close out the match.
The third game had a 17-point cap and Justin Pedrina had a kill for a Kalaheo sideout with the score at 16-16. The contest finally ended when Ian Alexander served and the Warriors were called for a net violation.
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