Third-ranked Iolani boys
avenge preseason loss
with a sweep

This time, Iolani did its homework.

Brad Lawson pounded nine kills to lead the No. 3 Raiders to a 25-20, 25-19 sweep over No. 5 Hawaii Baptist at Iolani's home gym. With the win, the Raiders avenged a preseason loss to the Eagles.

Iolani coach Mike Among said he and his coaching staff scouted HBA (2-2) to better prepare their defensive scheme and exploit that of the Eagles.

"We knew HBA would be scrappy," Among said. "They run a little bit different offense and defense, so just being able to scout them and understanding what they were trying to do, our boys were more mentally into the game."

On offense, the Raiders took advantage of the rotations where the Eagles had their setter, who doesn't go up to block, in the front row. Defensively, the Raiders knew where to put up their big block, which collected six stuffs in the match.

"Their block was much improved since the last time we played them," HBA coach Teoni Obrey said. "They just overwhelmed us from the get-go. ... They were prepared for us."

The Raiders (4-0) took an early lead in Game 1 by serving tough, which resulted in shaky passing by the Eagles. But after a kill by HBA's Dominic Hart to narrow the Iolani lead to 11-8, the Raiders went on a 5-0 run. The streak was capped by a double block by Kawika Shoji and Brian Mitsunaga on Joshua Thompson.

Hart led the Eagles with seven kills, while Sean Lum and Thompson added four and three, respectively.

With a first game win almost assured, the Raiders allowed the Eagles to score five straight points, three of which were unforced Iolani errors.

"It's mental. We'll work on that," Among said.

The first-year head coach said he and his team are still adjusting to each other, and that they are still working on the small things, such as finishing off games when leading by a large margin.

The Raiders never trailed in Game 2, quickly jumping out to a 4-1 lead after a kill by Shoji off the Eagles double block.

Shoji executed well on both offense and defense. The senior setter/outside hitter slammed eight kills and put up a match-high four blocks, including two solo.

Like the first game, the Raiders jumped out to a large lead midway through Game 2. Iolani increased its lead to seven points with a block of Thompson by Shoji and Mitsunaga at 18-11.

But Iolani again allowed the Eagles to close the gap. Two straight hitting errors by Lawson brought HBA to within three points at 22-19.

But the Raiders abruptly stopped the comeback.

"To me, Iolani just wanted it a lot more today," Obrey said. "We play them again, so that's going to be a good game."