Moanalua's Kamalu Kaaa attempts to put a kill past the block of Leilehua's Toma Savea. Peter Caldwell | SL

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042415_1307_OIAQuarters_090.JPG - Peter Caldwell | SL

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SALT LAKE — Moanalua and Kahuku both clinched a state tournament berth with a win in quarterfinal round of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I playoffs at Na Menehune's gymnasium Thursday night.

Na Menehune swept visiting Leilehua in straight sets while the Red Raiders needed four games to take down Mililani. The two victors will play each other in the semifinal round at Radford's James Alegre Gymnasium.

Austin Matautia had a match-high 17 kills and two blocks in Na Menehune's 25-19, 25-17, 25-10, win over the Mules. Kamalu Kaaa and Karson Cruz each added seven kills to aid Matautia's effort.

Leilehua was able to hang around with Moanalua in the opening set thanks to some several serving errors by Na Menehune. Once Moanalua was able to settle down and get its serves in play, the margin of victory in each set increased.

"I think once we got our serve going it got the most of rhythm, out of system so they became a little more predictable and we could see where the set was going just a little bit quicker," Moanalua coach Alan Cabanting said.

Setters Zach Kagehiro and Noah Marasco-Ayau combined for 21 assists and did a good job of spreading the Mules' front line with their sets.

"Our setters did a good job of going pin to pin towards the end of the match," said Cabanting. "Leilehua has two very athletic and good middles and we forced them to have to move from pin to pin. When you have any middle moving from antenna to antenna, it's a difficult job to do."

Toma Savea had nine kills and two blocks to lead the Mules.

Kahuku dropped its first set by double digits, but bounced back for a 11-25, 25-22, 25-23, 26-24, win over Mililani, the second-seeded team from the OIA West. The Red Raiders we're coming off a straight set win over Campbell the previous night.

"I think we weren't mentally ready at the beginning," said Kahuku's Micha Maiava, who had 15 kills and an ace to lead the Red Raiders. "We came here thinking it was going to be an easy game. We just need to start off strong and end strong like we did last night against Campbell."

The final three sets were a seesaw battle with both teams trading runs in spurts. Maiava credited his team's performance in crunch time with their dedication in practice.

"We were able to win those close battles because everyday at the end of practice we like to run and push ourselves so that when we come to a game like this and we go four or five sets, we're able to finish strong," he said."

Also with double digit kills for Kahuku was junior Alaifatu Tito who had 11 and a block. Setter Cameron Renaud had 30 assists and two aces.

Mililani had three players finish in double figures in kills. Kingston Nishimura and Sili Fuiava each had 17 and Micah Talamoa added 11 more. Zavier Lieb had a solid all-around game with 31 assists, 13 digs, four kills and two aces.