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Kahuku looking
to break through
in league play

MONA Ah-Hoy has led Kahuku to three Oahu Interscholastic Association tournament titles in her five years as coach, but slow starts have kept the Red Raiders from ever finishing first in the regular season.

That could change this year.

Kahuku, buoyed by the return of outside hitter Camilla Ah-Hoy, a second-team All-State pick last year, is the popular pick among coaches as the top team in the OIA East this season.

Along with Ah-Hoy, the only holdover from Kahuku's 2002 state championship team, the Red Raiders also feature 5-foot-7 senior middle blocker Lily Latu and 5-11 outside hitter Ane Vea, both of whom can put down the ball with the best of them.

"We have a lot of talent," Mona Ah-Hoy said. "But talent alone is not going to do it. The most important thing I always tell the girls is about their mental approach and focus coming into the game."

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The Red Raiders have yet to finish first in the regular season under Ah-Hoy, but after wins over McKinley and Farrington to open the season, the coach thinks this might be the year Kahuku breaks through.

"We have struggled with our passing (in previous years)," Ah-Hoy said. "The girls come early to practice and always worked on their hitting, but now they're coming in to work on their passing."

The OIA has split into Division I and Division II this season, so the Red Raiders find themselves competing with other Division I East teams Moanalua, Farrington, Roosevelt, Kalani, McKinley and Castle.

"We just had a really tough match with Farrington and I know Kalani is in a rebuilding year, and Moanalua picked up a transfer from the Big Island, so it's going to be competitive," Ah-Hoy said.

The Menehunes finished ahead of Kahuku in the regular season last year, but lost to the Red Raiders in the OIA tournament championship game. They have just one starting senior, and are also trying to fill the shoes of Danie Hout, a first-team All-State selection last year who is now playing at Hawaii Pacific.

"We lost our three really good leaders on the court, especially Danie, who was just great out there. So I think one of the biggest challenges for this group of girls is trying to find their identity out on the court," Moanalua coach Thomas Lake said.

Second-team All-State middle blocker Brianna Amian is a junior who actually put down more kills than Hout last season. She will team up with transfer Kaleinani Kebalas, a sophomore outside hitter, to try to carry Moanalua back to the top of the OIA.

"We just have to find some consistency with our younger players," Lake said. "We're going to take some bumps here in the beginning, but we could be really good by the end of the year."

The Menehunes are 1-1 after losing in three sets to Roosevelt, a team Lake says may surprise people this season.

"They have a couple of great setters and played us real well and I know they also beat Kalani, who they haven't beat in ages," he said.

The Falcons are another young team trying to fill a huge void left by the departure of another first-team selection -- Tamari Miyashiro.

While the East seems more top-heavy with two teams ranked in the Star-Bulletin top 10, the OIA West features seven teams that can all compete for a league title. Aiea opened some eyes with its preseason play, but Mililani, Leilehua, Waipahu and Pearl City have all been mentioned as possible spoilers.

The return of senior Lelani Kleman-Maeva has the Na Alii thinking championship. The 5-8 outside hitter is a returning second-team All-State selection, and one of the most heavily recruited players in the state.

"She's probably the reason anybody would think we're one of the teams to beat," Aiea coach Blythe Yamamoto said. "We have one other senior that is brand new to the sport so we're young, but they're starting to learn their roles."

Juniors Brandi Pascua-Aipa and Rachel Purcell give Na Alii some power hitting, and defensive specialist Michelle Shiroma will try to help stabilize a team with a couple of young setters in freshmen Michelle Lambayan and sophomore Tati Burgos.

"We're running a 6-2 system with both of them," Yamamoto said. "The younger kids are playing like they are a lot older. We were kind of shell-shocked in the first tournament, but we've rebounded and played well."

Regular-season play began last week and continues today with a showdown between Aiea and Leilehua in the West and Moanalua and Castle in the East.