---

Governors edge Chargers; Menehunes trip up Mules

Tiana Faafiti-Samuseva tallied a team-high eight kills and three blocks to lead Farrington over Pearl City in the first round of the Oahu Interscholastic Association volleyball playoffs last night at Moanalua.

Solid defense and Charger errors were the small difference as the Governors won a close one, 25-23, 24-26, 27-25.

Farrington, the fifth seed in the East, moves on to face the first seed in the East, Kahuku, tomorrow in Laie. The Govs improved to 6-7. The Chargers, the fourth seed from the West, finish the season at 8-5.

"Tonight, the girls actually believed in themselves in terms of in playoffs, anything can happen. I've been telling them that all year," Farrington coach Jenic Tumaneng said.

After the Govs came back to win Game 1, and Pearl City hung on to take Game 2, the match came down to the deciding Game 3.

With the final game tied at 15, the Govs got a little separation with a 3-0 run, ending with a bump kill by Jasmine Satele that fell untouched by the Chargers. That type of mental breakdown was what Pearl City coach Stephanie Shigemasa said hurt her team a lot throughout the match.

"The easy balls are what killed us in this game," Shigemasa said. "Our hitting wasn't really the problem, it was those mental mistakes that caught up to us in the end."

The Govs continued to hold a small lead until the first match point. Down by three, the Chargers made one last push led by senior Tazha Passi. Following a kill by Jazmin Pahukoa Malia, Passi teamed up with Tiana Inong for a block, then pounded down her 12th and final kill of the match to tie the game at 24.

But the Govs were too much in the end, getting two kills by their outside hitters as Faafiti-Samuseva and Satele put down two kills to end the match.

"I guess this game tested if we really, really wanted it," Farrington setter Bn Alafanso said. "They were really fast, they pick up every ball, their defense is very good. We had to work twice as hard in order to beat them."

Tiyani Kahanaoi-Pimental and Satele each added six kills in the win. Malia led the Chargers with 14 kills and four blocks.

Though their offense came through in Game 3, it was the Govs' defense that aided them early on.

As a team, the Govs managed fewer than 10 kills in the first game, but put up three blocks as the Chargers committed nine hitting errors.

Moanalua def. Leilehua, 25-17, 25-20

Kaleinani Kabalis posted a match-high nine kills as the Menehunes (No. 3 East) easily eliminated the Mules (No. 6 West) last night at Moanalua.

Brianna Amian added six kills to help Moanalua improve to 10-3 and move on to face Waipahu tomorrow at Kahuku. The Marauders are the second seed out of the West. Leilehua wraps up the season at 3-10.

The Mules were led by Isis Atualevao, who pounded five kills.

The Menehunes took control early in the first game, jumping out to an 11-4 lead after a kill by Kabalis forced Leilehua to call an early time out. Moanalua's offensive onslaught continued as the Menehunes eventually led by as many as 12 points late in the game. A kill by Sarah Robinson put Moanalua up 24-12. The Mules tried to make a comeback, going on a 5-0 run capped off by a solo block by Brittaney Stafford. But the Menehunes finished it up with a huge swing by Kabalis.

In the second game, the Mules held a small lead until midway through. After tying it at 11, the Menehunes outscored the Mules 14-9 the rest of the way.