[ HIGH SCHOOL ]
Iolani comes together
to put away rival Punahou
When Iolani meets Punahou in any sport, you can expect crowded gyms, noisy fans, excited coaches and every player on that field or court putting it all on the line to defeat their rivals.
CORRECTION
Sunday, Sept. 21, 2003>> >> The name of Iolani's boys volleyball coach is Luis Ramirez. A story on B3 of one edition yesterday incorrectly identified him as Luis Fernandez.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at fbridgewater@starbulletin.com.
Yesterday's boys volleyball match at Punahou gym proved to be all that, and then some.
Todd Blankenship's eighth kill of the game capped a stunning Iolani comeback and kept the Raiders undefeated as they silenced a rowdy Punahou crowd 22-25, 25-20, 25-18.
The night started off with Punahou looking like it was going to roll over the Raiders, as the Buffanblu built an early 8-1 lead in Game 1, forcing Iolani head coach Luis Fernandez to call a timeout.
"I keep telling the guys we control our own destiny this year, and during the timeout I settled them down and reminded them of that," Fernandez said.
His team responded and battled back, tying the first game at 20 on an ace by Iolani setter Sean Carney. However, Punahou's Michael China and Spencer McLaughlin put down back-to-back kills to help the Buffanblu win Game 1.
"Even though they took the first game, this team showed how mentally tough they are and came back strong," Fernandez said.
And to do that, the Raiders relied heavily on seniors Blankenship and Sean Carney.
Carney's ace opened a 6-2 lead for the Raiders at the beginning of Game 2, and the senior duo teamed up for a combined four blocks, three more than the entire team's total of Game 1.
"We won tonight as one team," Carney said. "When one guy went down, another guy would step up and we just fed off of each other the entire night."
After Iolani tied the match at one-game apiece, the Buffanblu still had a shot to pull out the three-set win, but they just couldn't find a way to stop the Raiders' growing momentum.
Kahou Berg-Hee and China hammered down kills to give the Buffanblu the early lead in Game 3, but the Raiders took over from there. Kawika Shoji, son of UH women's volleyball head coach Dave Shoji, hammered down three consecutive kills to give the Raiders a 22-13 lead that proved to be too much for the Buffanblu to overcome. After a couple of hitting errors, Blankenship hammered down the final kill, making his head coach a happy man.
"Punahou was very well prepared for us tonight, but I'm just happy with the way this team responded and the hard work that we've put into this season paid off dearly tonight," Fernandez said.
With the win, the Raiders take over the ILH lead with a 4-0 mark, 1/2 game ahead of Kamehameha who sits at 3-0.
