HHSAA GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
State final an ILH affair
One may be the loneliest number, but "2" is just fine for Iolani.
The unseeded Raiders, second-place finishers in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, ousted second-seeded Kahuku 25-14, 25-16 last night in the semifinals of the HHSAA Girls Volleyball State Championships.
Iolani faces Kamehameha in an all-ILH final at 8:30 tonight at Stan Sheriff Center. It will be the third time in 10 days the two have met; the Warriors won both matches last week that determined the ILH's second-round champion and then overall league champion.
A stunned crowd at Kekuhaupi'o saw Iolani (18-2) make relatively simple work of Kahuku. Sophomore Lauren Minkel led the way with seven kills, many on quick, low sets from setter Kapua Kamana'o.
"Our passing was really on the money. Kelly Pang played really good defense and helped us on our transition balls," Minkel said. "There were more runs when I was in the front row because our serving was really tough."
Senior Camilla Ah-Hoy led Kahuku (15-2) with 10 kills and five digs. She couldn't do all the work alone, however, as the smaller Red Raiders seemed to fizzle out in the second game.
"Their sets were really low, and that hurt our defense," Ah-Hoy said. "Our blocks were late."
Kahuku hit .000 for the match to Iolani's .276. Middle Meghan Burton supplied plenty of offense to keep Kahuku's defense off-balance.
Game 1 was close until a string of unforced errors derailed Kahuku. Iolani's 7-0 run came with just one kill thanks to the Red Raider miscues.
Iolani led 14-6 and was never threatened. The Raiders opened the lead to 21-9 after kills by Leinani Keanini and Burton. Four hitting errors by Iolani helped Kahuku cut into the lead, but the Red Raiders never got closer eight points.
Kamehameha 2, Roosevelt 0
Sophomore Kanani Herring pounded nine kills as the Warriors won the late semifinal 25-18, 25-15. Classmate Rebekah Torres added six kills and junior Alexis Robins tallied five kills for Kamehameha (19-1).
Senior Justiana Kalilimoku led Roosevelt (13-3) with six kills.
CONSOLATION
Waipahu def. Waiakea 25-21 23-25 25-21
Moanalua def. Kamehameha-Hawaii 16-25 25-22 25-18
Kamehameha-Maui def. Kalani 25-21 25-22
DIVISION II
St. Francis 2, Kaimuki 0
It took a full rotation for Kawena Cubi-Otineru to change the course of the game and lead her top-seeded St. Francis squad into the finals of the state Division II girls volleyball tournament last night.
The 5-foot-11 Cubi-Otineru finished with 12 kills as her Troubadours defeated Kaimuki 25-18, 25-13 in the semifinals at Radford High's James Alegre Gymnasium.
St. Francis (17-3) will face Radford in the finals tonight at 8.
"She's a good person to go to for a sideout or a momentum shift," Kaimuki coach Shaunna Smith said of Cubi-Otineru.
After three ties and a four-point deficit to start Game 1, Cubi-Otineru finally rotated into the front row and took over the game. Three straight kills from the senior made it 12-11 Troubadors. After a St. Francis service error, Cubi-Otineru had three more kills to build a 15-13 lead.
She closed out the first set with two blocks and kill.
"I took them for granted," Cubi-Otineru said of Kaimuki. "When they came strong, I couldn't adjust. I don't think we could adjust until we got our momentum going. When our passing went good, everything went well.
"I felt I did horribly in the back row (to start the game) and had to repay it back to my team with kills."
Radford 2, Maryknoll 0
Alzie Auelua had 8 kills as the Rams defeated the Spartans 25-12, 25-21 to advanced to the finals.
Heather Mau had six kills for Maryknoll, which faces Kaimuki in today's third-place match at 6:30 p.m.
Seabury Hall 2, Sacred Hearts 0
Bailey Roberts had 13 kills and the Spartans (9-5) hit for a .500 percentage to defeat the Lancers (11-10) 25-20, 25-23.
Seabury Hall will face Kaiser (15-3) in today's fifth-place game at 5 p.m.
Kaiser 2, Honokaa 0
Courtney Kandler had nine kills as the Cougars eliminated the Dragons (12-8) from the tournament 25-21, 31-29.
Wila Lavea had 11 kills for Honokaa.
Konawaena 2, St. Joseph 0
Kiana Kapuniai had 9 kills and digs each as the Wildcats (12-6) beat the Cardinals 25-23, 31-29 and advanced to today's seventh-place match against Kapaa (9-1) at 3:30 p.m.
St. Joseph (10-9) was led by Melissa Mattos' nine kills.
Seabury Hall will face Kaiser (15-3) in today's fifth-place game at 5 p.m.
The Star-Bulletin's Stan Lee contributed to this report