Tuesday, May 22, 2001
Iolani, Punahou After all of the shuffling and rearranging, the most logistically challenged state tournament ever was business as usual for Oahu's private school tennis powers.
storm to titles
Buffanblu boys win 11th straight
By Jason Kaneshiro
crown and Raider girls capture
fourth in a row
Star-BulletinAll of the top seeds prevailed yesterday in the final round of the Carlsmith Ball/HHSAA State Tennis Championships as Punahou won its 11th consecutive boys team title and Iolani claimed its fourth straight girls championship.
Punahou's Ikaika Jobe defeated Kamehameha's Tyler Black for his second boys singles championship, while Iolani's Tracie Ann Chong beat Hawaii Prep's Michelle Pautler for the girls' singles title. Punahou senior Bucky Jencks teamed with freshman Chris Iwamura to win his third boys doubles title. And Kamehameha's sister act of Kim and Janalle Kaloi successfully defended their girls doubles crown.
The first two rounds of the tournament were held at seven sites on Kauai Friday and Saturday, while the finals were played at Punahou School's courts. However, darkness at Punahou forced Kealakehe's Dru Kanuha and Punahou's Robbie Lim to finish their boys third place match at the University of Hawaii's lighted courts. Kanuha eventually won the match, 6-1, 6-7 (6), 6-2.
Chong's victory gave Iolani its first individual champion in the program's history. The senior lost in the state semifinals her first two years and fell to four-time champ Erin Hoe in last year's championship match.
"I waited for this for four years," Chong said. "So this was really my year and I'm glad I pulled through."
Chong almost never made it to the court as a stomach virus yesterday morning threatened to keep her out of school and the finals. But she recovered quickly and coolly controlled her match with Pautler, winning 6-2, 6-2.
"She just played very solid," said Iolani coach Mark Skillicorn. "She kept the pressure on Pautler from start to finish, and was pretty much in control."
Jobe recovered from a slow start to beat Black, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, and reclaim the state title. He won the championship as a sophomore, then elected to attend a tennis academy on the mainland before returning for his senior year.
"I wanted it badly, probably more than my sophomore year," Jobe said. "This year was a lot more mentally challenging, because I wasn't physically as strong as I was my sophomore year."
Black broke Jobe's serve to open the match and held serve the rest of the way to win the first set. But Jobe rebounded in the second by winning the first four games. Jobe fought off several break points early in the third set, and broke Black's serve to take a 3-2 lead and assume command of the match.
"He just kicked it up," Black said. "He started hitting the corners on his serve and on his volleys he was covering the court better."
Jencks and Iwamura also fell behind in their match and trailed Kealakehe's team of Nainoa Depontes and Michael Chan 4-1 in the first set. But they fought back to win five straight games to close the set and won the second set in a tiebreaker for a 6-4, 7-6 victory on their home court.
"It definitely makes it more special playing my last match here at Punahou," Jencks said. "I've won this three times and this was by far the best one."
The Kaloi sisters defended their championship by fighting off a challenge from Iolani seniors Noelle Lee and Miclynn Crail, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2.
"We didn't play our best, but we pulled it together at the end," said Janalle Kaloi. "This year was harder to win than last year. There was better competition."
Net notes: All three seniors on Iolani's girls team will play collegiate tennis next year. Chong will play at UNLV, while Lee and Crail will attend San Jose State and the Air Force Academy, respectively. Jobe has committed to play at St. Louis University. ... Tournament sponsor Carlsmith Ball covered the travel costs of the eight neighbor island players participating in yesterday's matches. The law firm paid for airfare, ground transportation and lodging for the players and their coaches. With the matches held on Kauai and Oahu, players from the Big Island and Maui would have had to pay for travel twice to play in the tournament.
Team standings Final results
Boys: 1. Punahou, 22 pts. 2. Kealakehe, 9. 3. Kamehameha, 5. 4. Mililani, 4. 5. (tie) Castle, Farrington, Kauai, Pearl City, Seabury Hall, and St. Louis, 1.
Girls: 1. Iolani, 18. 2. Kamehameha, 7. 3. Hawaii Prep, 5. 4. (tie) Baldwin and Kauai, 4. 6. Mililani, 3. 7. (tie) Campbell, Hilo, Leilehua, Pearl City, and Punahou, 1.Boys singles
Championship: Ikaika Jobe, Punahou, def. Tyler Black, Kamehameha, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Third place: Dru Kanuha, Kealakehe, def. Robbie Lim, Punahou, 6-1, 6-7 (6), 6-2.Girls singles
Championship: Tracie Ann Chong, Iolani, def. Michelle Pautler, Hawaii Prep, 6-2, 6-2.
Third place: Mariana Lee, Iolani, def. Krystal Hangai, Mililani, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.Boys doubles
Championship: Bucky Jencks-Chris Iwamura, Punahou, def. Nainoa Depontes-Michael Chan, Kealakehe, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
Third place: Sean Jobe-Ryan Laws, Punahou, def. Jeremy Perron-Joel Maeshiro, Mililani, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.Girls doubles
Championship: Janalle Kaloi-Kim Kaloi, Kamehameha, def. Noelle Lee-Miclynn Crail, Iolani, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2.
Third place: Tiana Lum-Tucker-Kareen Konishi, Kauai, def. Lauren Matsushita-Jenna Umeno, Baldwin, 6-4, 6-3.
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