Hawaii Baptist downs Damien in straight sets

Hawaii Baptist's Isaac Liva puts down a kill against Damien. Steve Erler | Special to SL

Even without its starting outside hitter, Hawaii Baptist was victorious Tuesday night.

The Eagles swept host Damien, 25-6, 25-8 to improve to 3-0 atop the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II standings. Damien suffered its first loss of the year, dropping to 2-1 in league play.

Hawaii Baptist was without 6-foot-4 junior Caleb Fisher, who went home from school early due to sickness. Sophomore Nicolas Caballes helped fill the void with six kills, seven digs and three aces.

"I think with Caleb not available, that just made us all want it more," said Caballes. "We came out stronger and was more aggressive."

Hawaii Baptist coach Teoni Obrey said that Caballes' performance was above his usual production.

"He passes and plays middle back defense for us, that's his primary," he said. "The kills for us is a bonus. If he gives us points from the front row that's awesome."

Caballes was one of three players with six kills for the Eagles, the other two being Brett Miller and Isaac Liva. Middle blocker David Miyahara had three more and freshman Michael Johnson added another. BJ Hosaka supplied the sets with 20 assists. Libero Joshua Kishaba led the team in digs with eight.

The Eagles, winners of the past four Division II state titles, were coming off an impressive performance in the eight annual Hawaii Boys Volleyball Invitational last weekend. Hawaii Baptist went 4-2 in the tourney, losing only to Punahou and Moanalua.

"That was very good for us," said Obrey. "To compete against high level volleyball teams — and for us to play at a high level — it was a very valuable experience."

For the Monarchs, it was a tough way to lose on senior night. Damien has no more home games remaining for the rest of the regular season.

"For a lot of the seniors it's tough for them," said Damien coach Kyle Yawata. "I had a couple of them from their sophomore year on varsity when I first took over the program. When you play HBA it's tough no matter what night it is."

Seth Daniels had two kills and two digs to lead the Monarchs. Also with kills were Shaun Apiki, Bonie James Rivad and Alika Vendiola. Skyler Capllonch and Binh Ngo had three digs each.

Hawaii Baptist used a 6-0 run to take an early 9-2 lead in the opening set and force a Damien timeout. After the two teams split the next four points, the Eagles went on a 12-0 run to take full control of set one. Caballes had all of his aces during this stretch. Hawaii Baptist clinched the set on Johnson's sharp kill attempt from the left side.

The second set started like the first with Hawaii Baptist scoring the first six points. Damien was able to score back-to-back points twice in the set, but ultimately could not match the Eagles' level of play.

Hawaii Baptist takes the floor next against Punahou I-AA while Damien travels to face Iolani I-AA. Both games are scheduled for Saturday.

Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].