GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Jonathan Charette is a promising player who grew up in Orange County's (Calif.) volleyball breeding ground. The 6-foot-2 senior left-hander enrolled at Pearl City on Sept. 1 from Fullerton High School.

Making a charge

Jonathan Charette gives the
Pearl City Chargers the spark
they need to win a fourth
OIA boys volleyball title

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By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.com

When the Pearl City boys volleyball team wrapped up its preseason training in August, the Chargers felt they had a solid team. Certainly one that could contend for the program's fourth Oahu Interscholastic Association title in five years.

Then Jonathan Charette walked into the gym.

The 6-foot-2 senior joined the team with skills honed in Southern California's junior circuit and a wicked left-handed jump serve and unveiled another realm of possibilities for the Chargers.

"When Jon came in it took us to another level from where we were," senior setter Christopher Kaneko said.

With Charette's powerful spikes and elite-level experience augmenting an already potent lineup, the Chargers continue their quest for the OIA crown tonight when they meet Campbell in the semifinals of the league tournament.

Pearl City was part of an OIA West sweep in the quarterfinals last Saturday as Campbell, Leilehua and Mililani also qualified for the state tournament next month in Hilo.

Charette enrolled at Pearl City on Sept. 1 as a transfer from Fullerton High School, and a mix-up in his paperwork led to the Chargers forfeiting a match to Waialua early in the season.

But that proved to be the only glitch in his assimilation with the team as the Chargers went 9-1 and captured a share of the OIA Western Division championship.

"The team jelled really quickly," Charette said. "Even though I was the new guy everyone took me in like I had been playing all season with them."

While the Chargers are now focused on defending their league championship, Charette's addition may also help them challenge the Interscholastic League of Honolulu powers that have dominated state competition over the years.

Pearl City starts five players 6-feet or taller. Kaneko (5-foot-10) is the only sub-6-footer in the lineup.

"Very rarely do we have a transfer coming into Pearl City," Chargers coach Reid Shigemasa said. "Usually we're looking at somebody who's shorter, has a little bit of experience in volleyball and is able to provide something to the team, but not as much as a Jonathan.

"Jonathan totally opened our game into being more of a prototypical ILH team where you have big middles, big outsides, you have a good-sized setter with a big back-row attack."

Despite losing all-state outside hitter Allison Dupont to graduation, the Chargers entered the fall with high hopes with the return of Kaneko, outside hitters Kapena Wong (6-2) and Elsworth Kaanaana (6-0), and middle blockers Michael Adams (6-2) and Michael Hardy (6-3).

Although Charette's ability to terminate points demands a high percentage of the sets, Kaneko is comfortable in spreading the wealth to keep the opposing defenses from loading up on one hitter.

"I'd say everybody is a go-to person," Kaneko said. "They're really consistent. If the set's there, they're consistent hitters."

Charette, who is half Hawaiian and half Italian, grew up in Orange County's volleyball breeding ground and played for the Long Beach Club team that finished second in the 17-and-under open division at the Junior Olympic national championships last summer.

When he began to consider his post-graduation options, the possibility of exploring his island roots at the University of Hawaii intrigued him enough to leave his family and friends behind and spend his final year of high school in the middle of the Pacific.

"The thought never crossed my mind until I started to look at colleges," said Charette, who lives with a cousin here. "UH is where I want to go ... and I wanted to make sure I liked it, because if I came here for college and I didn't like it then it's like too bad."

Charette said he never followed UH sports and wasn't aware the Warriors' men's volleyball team won the national championship until a friend told him about it during the summer.

Once he arrived at Pearl City, Charette said the adjustment period was rough at times, but his coaches and teammates aided in his transition to local life.

"He was really homesick, but he wasn't afraid," Shigemasa said. "He dug in and did a great job.

"He's open, he's honest and he tells you what his feelings are up front. ... By doing that it allowed us to explain a lot of situations to him."

And it helped that Charette didn't let his volleyball background affect his perception of his place on the team.

"When he came here he was just a normal player and accepted his role," Shigemasa said. "When he did something wrong we gave him his consequence and he just dealt with it. He never thought he was better than anybody."

OIA playoffs Boys Tonight At McKinley H.S. gym Pearl City vs. Campbell, 6 p.m. Mililani vs. Leilehua, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 7 At Stan Sheriff Center Third-place match -- semifinal losers, 4 p.m. Championship match -- semifinal winners, 5:30 p.m. Girls Tonight At Radford H.S. gym Pearl City vs. Moanalua, 6 p.m. Kahuku vs. Kalani, 7:30 p.m. Note: Both matches live on KUMU2 AM-1500. Nov. 7 At Stan Sheriff Center Third-place match -- semifinals losers, 2:30 p.m. Championship match -- semifinal winners, 7 p.m.