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Menehunes remain
perfect in OIA East
Danie Hout pounded 13 kills and Briana Amian added 11 as No. 2-ranked Moanalua swept Farrington 25-20, 25-18 last night at the Menehunes' gym.
Moanalua improved to 8-0 in Oahu Interscholastic Association East play. Ninth-ranked Farrington suffered its third consecutive loss and fell to 5-3.
Farrington, which lost to Kahuku under an avalanche of errors Tuesday, committed only three errors in the opening game.
"The mistakes weren't there, but we need to find some leaders," Farrington coach Jenic Tumaneng said. "Everybody's looking at each other. We've gotta suck it up. We don't want to continue with this kind of momentum."
The Menehunes committed 10 errors in Game 1, including five service errors. Part of that was due to Moanalua's desire to work on serving.
"I don't mind the five service errors if the girls are serving tough," Moanalua coach Thomas Lake said.
Even with the mistakes, the Menehunes displayed the depth and versatility that have lifted them to the top of the East.
Amian, a 5-foot-11 sophomore, slammed eight kills in the opening game.
"She's a good support for Danie, especially when she's opposite of her," Tumaneng said.
Amian put down three kills at the start as Moanalua zoomed to a 3-1 lead.
The Menehunes extended the lead to as many as eight points despite the unforced errors. They led 24-16 before committing a service error and three hitting miscues, but Hout put the game away with a roll shot.
Farrington's Tanya Sale had six kills in the first game, but got little help. When Sale became less effective in the second game, the Lady Govs didn't quite fill in the gap.
Sale roofed Hout and hammered a kill as the Govs took a 3-1 lead, but Moanalua's depth took over. Hout gave Moanalua the lead for good at 6-5, and Sarah Robinson followed with a pair of aces.
The Menehunes' 14-7 run was sparked in part by reserve outside hitter Melanie Won. The senior tallied four kills, all in the second game.
"She brings a good energy to the court," Hout said.
Lake credited his reserves for raising the bar of excellence.
"At practice, our second team pushes our first team a lot," he said.
It has been quite a ride for the Menehunes, considered by many coaches in preseason to be the third-best team in the East behind Kalani and Kahuku. Instead, Moanalua has become the most consistent, balanced team in the OIA.
That level of play earned the Menehunes plenty of attention.
"We don't really talk a lot about media things. We might mention it if we see something on TV or in the paper," said Hout, a 5-8 senior. "Polls don't really mean anything. They might give some teams more confidence, but it's more for the fans."
Moanalua played without Melanie Manutai, who is expected to return soon from a minor injury, Lake said.
The Menehunes face Kailua, McKinley and Kalaheo to close out the regular season. It's hard to imagine now, but there was a time when their intensity level was an issue.
"Our first match against Kaimuki was tough," Lake said of their OIA opener. "The intensity wasn't there."
At this point, there are no wake-up calls left.
"We have playoffs right around the corner, so we can't let up. We just want to get a little better every week."
