Punahou teams hold at top;
ILH, OIA girls playoffs start

The girls volleyball forecast is calm, with a storm brewing on the horizon tonight.

The boys volleyball atmosphere, however, is already stirring with drama as the playoffs continue.

Punahou, which garnered all 11 first-place ballots, remained locked at No. 1 in today's Star-Bulletin Top 10 boys poll. In fact, the top six -- Punahou, Iolani, Kamehameha, Waiakea, Kauai and Kalaheo -- remain status quo.

Below that, voters dropped Damien, which had been at No. 10, and brought in Maryknoll and Waipahu.

Maryknoll returned to the list at No. 10, sharing the spot with Waipahu, which is making its debut.

Waipahu finished first in the Oahu Interscholastic Association West with a 9-1 mark. When the quarterfinal round begins tomorrow, the Marauders have a chance to win a state tournament berth. They'll have to get past Mililani in a 6 p.m. match at McKinley Student Council Gym.

In the girls Top 10, Punahou collected all 20 first-place votes to remain firmly atop the mountain. The 10 teams remained exactly where they were a week ago with the exception of Kamehameha.

The Warriors, second to Punahou in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu race, moved up to No. 2 in this week's Top 10.

Both the ILH and OIA girls playoffs begin tonight. The ILH's tournament, previously scheduled to begin Friday, starts today at separate locations.

The OIA tourney opens at Waipahu and Kalani.

On the air: OC-16 will televise two of the OIA's four quarterfinal boys volleyball matches tomorrow. In addition to the Waipahu-Mililani matchup, East top seed Kalaheo will face Pearl City with a state berth at stake. That match begins at 7:30 p.m.

OC-16 will also televise the girls quarterfinals Thursday night, boys and girls semifinals Saturday beginning at 4 p.m., and the championship matches Nov. 4.