[ STATE VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS ]
RONEN ZILBERMAN / RZILBERMAN@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kamehamea's Ronson Olaso slammed the ball over Kahuku's Junior Ale during last night's match.
Kamehameha rolls on
The Warriors beat Kahuku
25-20, 25-14 to advance to face
Seabury Hall in the semifinals
Kahuku had a chance to change the course of Hawaii high school boys volleyball history, but the Red Raiders ran into well-rounded, two-time defending champion Kamehameha last night in the Nissan state championships.
CORRECTION
Thursday, Oct. 13, 2003>> Ikaika Shelton plays on the Kamehameha volleyball team. His name was misspelled as Sheldon in stories on Page B1 yesterday and Page B7 Wednesday.
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.
The Warriors, playing the team ball coach Pono Ma'a stresses, cruised to a 25-20, 25-14 victory at the McKinley High School gym. They move on to play Maui Interscholastic League champion Seabury Hall in tonight's 8 p.m. semifinal.
State volleyball
Boys
At McKinley High Gym
Seeds: 1. Iolani (ILH); 2. Seabury Hall (MIL); 3. Kahuku (OIA); 4. Kealakehe (BIIF).
Yesterday
Match 5: Waimea def. Campbell 25-13, 25-20
Match 6: Kealakehe def. Mililani 22-25, 25-18, 25-22
Match 7: Seabury Hall def. Waiakea 25-14, 21-25, 25-18
Match 8: Iolani def. Maui 25-15, 25-13
Match 9: Kamehameha def. Kahuku 25-20, 25-14
Today
Match 10: Kalaheo vs. Ka'u, 2 p.m.
Match 11: Mililani vs. Maui, 3:30 p.m.
Match 12: Waiakea vs. Kahuku, 5 p.m.
Match 13: Kealakehe vs. Iolani, 6:30 p.m.
Match 14: Seabury Hall vs. Kamehameha, 8 p.m.
Girls
At Hemmeter Fieldhouse, Punahou
Seeds: 1. Kalani (OIA); 2. Punahou (ILH); 3. St. Joseph (BIIF); 4. Seabury Hall (MIL).
Yesterday
Match 5: Kealakehe def. Hawaii Prep 25-21, 25-23
Match 6: Moanalua def. St. Joseph 27-25, 26-24
Match 7: Kamehameha-Oahu def. Seabury Hall 25-19, 25-15
Match 8: Punahou def. Kahuku 25-18, 29-27
Match 9: Kalani def. Roosevelt 25-20, 24-26, 25-20
Today
Match 10: Kauai vs. Kamehameha-Maui, 2 p.m.
Match 11: Seabury Hall vs. Roosevelt, 3:30 p.m.
Match 12: St. Joseph vs. Kahuku, 5 p.m.
Match 13: Moanalua vs. Punahou, 6:30 p.m.
Match 14: Kamehameha-Oahu vs. Kalani, 8 p.m.
The Red Raiders (11-2) could have made two huge inroads. With a victory, they would have ensured that the first team aside from Kamehameha or Punahou since Roosevelt in 1979 would become the boys state champion. They also could have kept the dream alive for the first state champions from the OIA since those '79 Rough Riders.
"We couldn't get our offense going and we couldn't get our defense going," Kahuku coach Howard Kaululaau said. "They outsized us.
"The boys knew they were representing the OIA and I told them they had to be mentally prepared. In the beginning, they were in it, but toward the middle of the first game is when their focus began to slide down."
The blocking of Kamehameha's Ikaika Sheldon, Kensy Apaka and Rensen Olaso kept the Kahuku attackers off-balance and provided another scoring outlet. Once again, the Warriors got a huge night from outside hitter Adam Tuifagu, who blasted nine kills, and Kory Matsukado, who added seven.
"Coach Ma'a stresses the little things every day at practice, like getting tight to the outside blocker (on double blocks) and to focus on the inside of the court and not the crowd outside," said Sheldon, who scored on four blocks in the first game.
"Now we'll be focusing on Seabury Hall and I've heard rumors from some of the Iolani players that they're supposed to beat us. We have to continue to block, dig and hit like we've been doing."
Top-seeded Iolani plays Kealakehe in tonight's other semifinal.
Tuifagu's four kills and Matsukado's two helped the Warriors (17-2) turn a 10-8 lead into a commanding 20-15 edge in Game 1.
Matsukado's two kills helped the Warriors on a crucial 8-2 run early in Game 2 that broke a 4-4 tie for a 12-6 lead. Tuifagu's added four powerful kills in the middle of Game 2 to ensure the match victory.
"We have a real big upside right now," Ma'a said. "But we're not close to where we could be and there's only two more days to get there. We played good enough to win and it was a good team effort -- and that's what it's going to take (to win the state title) -- everybody pitching in."
Brandon Carr led Kahuku with six kills and Junior Ale added four.
Iolani 2, Maui 1: Todd Blankenship led the ILH champion Raiders (16-2) with six kills and five blocks in a 25-13, 25-15 victory over the Maui Interscholastic League runner-up Sabers (9-5).
Iolani took big early leads in both games and never looked back to advance to tonight's 6:30 semifinal against Kealakehe.
Kyle Pape and Kawika Shoji also had six blocks for the Raiders as setter Sean Carney distributed the ball to all the Raiders' big guns.
"We had some good match-ups to work with and everyone played their assignments," Iolani coach Luis Ramirez said. "Sean was able to really spread it around.
"For our first match (in the tournament), we played OK. We were relaxed and didn't put our guard down and that's part of the reason we've made it this far."
Gene Rivera and Jeff Skrotzki had four kills apiece for Maui, which plays Mililani at 3:30 p.m. today at McKinley with the winner moving on to the fifth-place match tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.
"We don't get teams the caliber of Iolani on Maui," said Sabers coach Cinda Thibodeaux, whose team beat Campbell in the opening round Tuesday. "We're one step behind. But I told the boys to go out and have fun and they had fun. We play tomorrow and if we do good, we'll play Friday, too."
Kealakehe 2, Mililani 1: The Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion and fourth-seeded Waveriders (16-3) pulled away from the OIA runner-up Trojans (13-2) with strong defense for a 22-25, 25-18, 25-22 victory.
Kealakehe advanced to tonight's 6:30 p.m. semifinal against Iolani.
"That's what it's all about -- defense," Waveriders coach Roddy Yomes said. "It was our defense in the third set that made the difference."
Kyle Teves' 16 kills complemented the defensive play of Loa Patao, who had seven scoring blocks, and Nick Battistini, who finished with seven kills and six blocks.
"We had a good chance to make it to the semis," said Mililani's Puna Neumann, who finished with a team-high 12 kills. "But we didn't play defense at the end of the third set. We had a letdown in the back."
Seabury Hall 2, Waiakea 1: The MIL champion and second-seeded Spartans got 16 kills and five blocks from Corey Spence and seven kills from Casey Walsh to dispatch the BIIF runner-up Warriors 25-14, 21-25, 25-18.
With the victory, Seabury Hall (11-1) advanced to tonight's 8 p.m. semifinal match against Kamehameha.
Napua Cabatu had 10 kills and Kacy Goldstein added seven to lead the Warriors (15-5).
RONEN ZILBERMAN / RZILBERMAN@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kamehameha's Adam Tuifagu threw down a kill as Kahuku's Brandon Carr tried to block during last night's match.
