Sunday, November 18, 2001
[ PREP VOLLEYBALL ]
Iolani steals away Iolani dethroned defending state champion Punahou to win its first girls volleyball state title with a 5-15, 15-12, 15-11 victory last night at Blaisdell Arena.
state title
The Raiders come back in Game 3
to beat the BuffanbluBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comIolani junior Kanoe Kamana'o recorded 14 kills and three aces as the Raiders outlasted the Buffanblu in an epic conclusion to the Nissan State Girls Volleyball Championship tournament.
And with a raucous red-clad Iolani cheering section behind her, Kamana'o served the final five points of the match, which ended when Ashley Elliazar's spike went off the Punahou block and fell out of bounds on match point.
"I was really shocked," Kamana'o said of the moment the ball hit the floor. "I was just stunned. I stopped for a second and was in my own world."
With the win Iolani completed a perfect 20-0 season and gave Ann Kang, the only coach in the history of the Iolani girls volleyball program, her first state title.
"It's more awesome for them," Kang said, gazing at the Raiders' celebration. "They're the ones who had to do it on the court. They're the ones who had to believe in themselves and really pull together. The smiles you see here, that's the high."
Laakea Campbell finished with nine kills, while Blair Nonaka recovered from a slow start to add eight for the Raiders, who beat Punahou in five games in their last meeting to clinch the Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship.
"Volleyball is such a game of momentum, when you've got it you try to hold on to it," Punahou coach John McDermott said. "But they had the momentum at the end and it paid off for them.
"I think a lot of the difference was Kanoe," he added. "She does so many things so well."
Punahou senior Michelle Look led the Buffanblu with 13 kills and five blocks, while freshman Aneli Otineru recorded 13 kills and two blocks. Middle blocker Puna Richardson recorded six kills and eight blocks.
"They've been our go-to girls all year long," McDermott said. "Even though the other teams know we're going to go to them, they're hard to stop. They played with a lot of heart and a lot of courage tonight."
The Raiders and Buffanblu made certain that an ILH school would win the state championship for the 20th consecutive year by sweeping their Big Island opponents in the semifinals earlier in the day.
Punahou took command of Game 1 by scoring the first five points of the match. The Buffanblu also capitalized on Iolani mistakes, scoring eight points on Raider hitting errors.
"We basically said we had to make a few adjustments on the block and that a lot of things that were going wrong were because to things we were doing and we could control that," Kang said.
Nonaka struggled to keep the ball in the court for much of the first game, but rebounded with four kills in Game 2 to help spark the Iolani comeback.
"I did have problems because I was playing tight," Nonaka said. "But I just came out hard and figured I'd just hit all out and Kanoe gave me some really nice sets."
The Raiders stayed alive by winning a see-saw battle in Game 2. With the game tied at 11, Kamana'o hammered a kill to give Iolani the lead. Kills by Nonaka and Campbell gave the Raiders the game.
"We were just thinking that we could do it," Campbell said. "We trusted each other and supported each other and that's what got us through it."
The decisive third game opened with Punahou taking a 7-2 lead. But Kamana'o got a kill for a point and strung together four points on her serve to tie the game.
Them teams traded the lead several times before Kamana'o went back to serve with Punahou leading 11-10.
"We had it in our hands and I wasn't about to let it go," she said.
A block by Elliazar and Raeceen Woolford tied the game. Kills by Woolford and Nonaka and a hitting error on Punahou gave Iolani a 14-11 lead. And Elliazar finished the match by pounding a spike off a Punahou blocker.
"I feel so good," said Campbell, one of four Iolani seniors. "I feel like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I'm just so happy we won and being undefeated makes it sweeter."
St. Joseph 2, Hilo 0: The Cardinals evened their season series with the Vikings at two wins apiece with a 15-11, 15-12 victory for third place in the state.
Paakaula recorded a match-high 12 kills and two aces for St. Joseph, while Kuuipo Hayes added seven kills and an ace. Hilo middle blocker Sarah Mason led the Vikings with eight kills and two blocks.
With the win, the Cardinals avenged their loss to the Vikings in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation title game.
St. Joseph jumped out to big leads in both games, but Hilo battled back to challenge only to see the Cardinals pull away at the end.
"I'm proud of them because this last game, they fought back," Hilo coach Carla Carpenter-Kabalis said. "That was the main thing, everyone went in there, dug deep and tried to do the best ... I think our team did a great job in this tournament."
The third-place finish should bode well for the Cardinals' future. St. Joseph had two seniors, one junior and six sophomores on its roster.
"We look forward to coming back next year and making a difference," St. Joseph coach Rachelle Hanohano said. "One of their goals was to play until Saturday ... and they pretty much made their dreams a reality, for this year anyway."
Semifinals
Iolani 2, St. Joseph 0: Campbell registered 15 kills to lead the Raiders to a 16-14, 15-8 win over the Cardinals. Kamanao hit .533 in the match and finished with nine kills.Punahou 2, Hilo 0: Buffanblu freshman Aneli Otineru hammered 15 kills as Punahou routed the BIIF champion Vikings 15-6, 15-6.
Punahou middle blocker Puna Richardson hit .526 and recorded 10 kills and five blocks, while outside hitter Michelle Look had five kills and two aces.
All-Tournament Team
Selected by the mediaMVP: Kanoe Kamana'o, Iolani
La'akea Campbell, Iolani
Fabriann Gin, Iolani
Michelle Look, Punahou
Puna Richardson, Punahou
Aneli Otineru, Punahou
Jazmin Paakaula, St. Joseph
Hawaii School Web Sites