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Star-Bulletin Sports


Sunday, November 11, 2001


[ PREP VOLLEYBALL ]


DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kamehameha's Isaac Kneubuhl hits one past Iolani's
Tyler McCready. The Warriors swept the Raiders to win
the HHSAA boys volleyball championship.



Kamehameha wins boys
volleyball title


By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.com

One thing was certain. For the 27th time in the 33 years of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association boys volleyball championship tournament, the champion would come from the Interscholastic League of Honolulu.

Top-seeded and undefeated Kamehameha was 0-4 under coach Pono Ma'a in the past four title matches.

Iolani had not been in the state tournament since 1992 and had advanced to the state final only once, losing to Roosevelt in 1978.

One streak had to break. It was the drought by the Warriors, who held off the Raiders 15-8, 15-13 at Blaisdell Arena.

It was the third title for Kamehameha, the first since 1993. The Warriors, who defeated Iolani for the third time this season, finished at 20-0 while the Raiders ended at 16-4.

"What a battle," said Ma'a. "We wanted this one so bad. Our goal was 20-0, but you know how hard that is in the ILH. We gritted it out at the end when they tried to take the momentum away from us."

Warrior senior Eric Kalima had been on the losing end of the state final the past two years.

"We didn't want it to happen this year," Kalima said. "This was our goal from Aug. 4, the first day of practice. We didn't want to go down again."

The Warriors took control from the opening serve, jumping out to a 6-0 lead. The Raiders had overcome slow starts before, but this time had no answers for Isaac Kneubuhl, Adam Tuifagu or Kamehameha's vacuum defense, which outdug Iolani 51-27.

Kneubuhl had 10 of his match-high 18 kills in Game 1 to help his team to a 12-6 lead.

Iolani closed to 12-8, but a kill by Kneubuhl and a block and a kill by Willy Melemai ended it.

Kamehameha again put Iolani in a deep hole in Game 2, going ahead 12-1. But the Raiders began an improbable comeback, closing to 13-12.

Iolani held off seven match points and got to within 14-13.


DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kamehameha's Chris Enos, left and Willy Melemai
jump for joy as the Warriors beat Iolani.



The teams traded great defensive plays before Iolani's Tyler McCready hit long on a slide play to end it.

"Our own unforced errors were part of our inexperience," Iolani coach Luis Ramirez said. "We didn't give up, but Kamehameha's defense was always there. I'm still very proud of my team. No one expected us to get this far."

Jon Grobe led the Raiders with 17 kills.

Third place: After Friday's quarterfinals, Kealakehe coach Kahinu Lee hoped his team would face Kalaheo yesterday. Lee got his wish and was reunited with former University of Hawaii teammates Sivan Leoni and Gavin Cook, the Mustangs' coaches. All three played on the Rainbows' 1996 NCAA runner-up team.

After shaking hands, the niceties were over and the teams went to war. It was the farthest either school had been in the state tournament.

When the smoke cleared, the Big Island champs had prevailed 15-9, 15-9 in their second consecutive state tournament appearance in the school's three-year varsity history.

The Waveriders finish at 17-2, the Mustangs at 12-5.

"We had too much seniors for us to lose this one," said Lee, who had five seniors on his 10-player roster. "Our players were very hungry, especially Kana (Bento) who is asking for the ball all the time. We finally brought our game."

And senior blocker Bento finished with a big game. The transfer from Konawaena had 10 kills in 17 attempts with no errors.

"This game we played for fun," said Bento, who hopes to play at Hawaii next year. "There was no pressure like there was against Kamehameha (in the semifinals)."

For the Mustangs, senior Justin Pedrina had 10 kills.

In the earlier semifinals, Kamehameha defeated Kealakehe 15-4, 15-9, while Iolani beat Kalaheo 15-12, 15-2.

The all-tournament team was Kneubuhl (MVP), Ainoa Miyashiro and Rickey Estrada, Kamehameha; Grobe and McCready, Iolani; Bento, Kealakehe; and Pedrina, Kalaheo.



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