Punahou sweeps Kamehameha, 25-19, 25-23

Punahou MB Brittney Markwith winds up for a kill attempt against Kamehameha. Greg Yamamoto | SL

Carly Kan, Brittney Markwith and Tai Manu-Olevao each had five kills yesterday to help visiting Punahou sweep Kamehameha, 25-19, 25-23, at Kekuhaupi'o Gym.
The victory improved the Buffanblu, ranked No. 6 in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com, to 7-0 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu. The Warriors, who placed sixth in last week's prestigious Durango Fall Classic in Las Vegas, fell to 3-2.

"Our girls showed up today, they came to play," Punahou coach Peter Balding said.
The Buffanblu never trailed in the first set, jumping out to a 3-0 lead and holding off several challenges by Kamehameha, which later fought back from four points down to tie it at 16-16.
Punahou then scored four straight points to pull ahead, 20-16, before the Warriors closed it to 20-18 on Pikake Laumauna's block.
The Buffanblu responded with kills from Manu-Olevao and Taylor Dayton, and then Markwith and Kan put down spikes to set up game point at 24-19. A Kamehameha swing went into the net to end it.
The Warriors started the second set strong, taking leads of 3-1 and 13-10, but Punahou rallied for six straight points to go up, 16-13.
"Rachel Inouye came in and gave us some good serves, and (Kamehameha) did not pass well in that rotation," Balding said.
The Warriors clawed back and closed to within one point seven times, including 24-23 after a Buffanblu serve error, but their final kill attempt went just long to complete the sweep.
"Punahou played a very god match, they capitalized on everything," Kamehameha coach Chris Blake said. "They're the real deal, they did all the right things and deserved to win. We gotta do a better job with our opportunities, our first touch wasn't up to par today and we didn't convert a lot of serves."
Kan added two blocks an ace to her five kills and Markwith had one block.

Misty Ma'a led the Warriors with a match-high nine kills to go along with one block, and Laumauna added two kills and five blocks.