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Wednesday, October 25, 2000
St. Francis’ Punahou ended St. Francis' six-match win streak last night.
win streak ends
By Tim Crouse
Special to the Star-BulletinA three-game sweep of the Troubadours put the Buffanblu in command of the second round of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu volleyball season.
Punahou beat St. Francis, 15-8, 15-11, 15-3, at home to improve to 3-0 in the second round, with just two matches remaining.
The loss dropped St. Francis into a second-place tie with Kamehameha and Iolani at 2-1.
It was the nationally-ranked Troubadours' first loss since the Buffanblu beat them Sept. 19. St. Francis captured the first round title with a 10-1 record, and already has a spot in the state tournament, which runs from Nov. 7-10.
By the end of play tomorrow, at least one, and possibly two, of the top four teams will have two losses -- and be out of the running for the second round title.
If Punahou beats defending state champion Kamehameha tomorrow, it will difficult for the Warriors to make the state tournament hopes.
Iolani's postseason aspirations are also on the line tomorrow against St. Francis.
The winner of the second round earns a berth into the state tournament. If St. Francis manages to win the second round, the team that finishes in second place will battle Kamehameha -- the second-place finisher in the first round -- for the the other ILH state tournament berth.
Punahou and St. Francis waged a furious, fast-paced battle in the first game last night. Milia Macfarlane served to start the match, and by the time she got to the service line again, Punahou led 11-8.
After a Punahou block and a St. Francis hitting error increased the lead to 13-8, the Troubadours had just two more chances to serve the rest of the game.
Caroline Ane got sideouts each time with quick-set kills and Puna Richardson ended the game emphatically with a roof.
The second game was played at a totally different pace.
Only six points were on the scoreboard after all six St. Francis players had served once in the second game, with St. Francis leading 4-2.
The Troubadours increased the lead to 8-2, but Punahou fought its way back into the game, getting kills from all over the court and taking advantage of St. Francis errors. Punahou led for the first time at 12-11, and finally put the game away on a Milia Macfarlane dump -- after the 27th rotation of the game.
Punahou rattled off eight quick points to start the third game, taking advantage of a seemingly confused St. Francis team. At one point, a ball fell to the floor in the middle of four St. Francis players.
Michelle Look served an ace for a 10-0 lead, and a Puna Richardson solo block made it 11-0.
The fourth St. Francis serve of the game finally netted a point, but the Troubadours couldn't muster any kind of rally.
Look finished with 13 kills and 14 digs for Punahou, and Elizabeth Narkon paced St. Francis with 13 kills.
"We need to go back to the basics," Troubadour coach Sean Maskell said. "We're going to have to throw this match out (of our minds)."
