Buffanblu eye another title
The Punahou boys tennis team vies for its 13th consecutive state championship -- 35th overall -- and a senior from the Big Island hopes the third time will be the charm when the 56th annual Carlsmith Ball State Tennis Championships begins tomorrow at Central Oahu Regional Park.
The Interscholastic League of Honolulu holds three of the four No. 1 seeds in the tournament. The fourth top seed is Hawaii Preparatory Academy senior Michelle Pautler, last year's No. 1 singles seed who is looking for her first state title.
"She lost in the finals the last two years in two very tough matches, but we'll see how this year plays out," HPA coach Craig Pautler said.
If his last name looks familiar, HPA's coach also is Michelle's father. He is very careful to make sure being a coach doesn't get in the way of being a dad.
"I've always made sure to be a father first, and a coach second," he said. "You can't mix the two."
Even though Michelle Pautler has suffered heartbreaking losses the past two years, Craig Pautler isn't worried about that affecting his daughter's performance this year.
"I keep reminding her that she will be playing tennis at the college she wants to be playing at, so have fun with this last opportunity in high school," he said.
The girls' doubles tournament features Kamehameha senior Kimberly Kaloi, who will attempt to win a fourth consecutive championship.
After teaming with her older sisters the past three years, she'll be counting on partner Lauren Shin to bring home the crown.
On the boys' side of the tournament, Punahou coach Rusty Komori has the top seeds in the singles and doubles divisions to help him achieve his 10th straight boys team championship with the Buffanblu.
Robbie Lim, the top boys' singles seed, won this tournament last year as a fourth seed. He knows that the road toward a second straight title will be different.
"Unlike last year when I was able to surprise some people, I'll be the one people are gunning for," Lim said. "That in itself will make this year's tournament just as tough, if not tougher."
Chris Iwamura and Nick Leong make up the top-seeded doubles team for Punahou.
Leong is looking to taste his first state doubles title, while Iwamura is hoping for a repeat of last year's doubles championship.
"Even though I have a different partner this year, we're jelling together as a team at the right time," Iwamura said.
With 12 consecutive state titles, and 34 overall, the pressure of adding to those numbers is something Komori will address before the tournament.
"Pressure is something players put on themselves," Komori said. "You get in trouble when you focus on the winning and losing part instead of focusing on your performance goals, so I'm going to make sure my guys understand that going into states."
Komori is also quick to add that the regular season does not matter anymore.
"We played the whole season to get seedings for the state tournament," he said. "Everybody is even and my goals for them now are just to maximize their potential and let the results fall where they may."
Play continues at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow and Saturday. The finals are scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.