Punahou sweeps previously unbeaten Iolani

Punahou's Hana Lishman had a game-high 11 kills in a straight set win over previously unbeaten Iolani. Greg Yamamoto | SL

Hana Lishman put down 11 kills and Kiana Peroff added 10 more to help Punahou (11-4) hand Iolani (14-1) its first league loss in convincing fashion, 25-20, 25-17, 25-17.

Iolani kept pace with Punahou early on in the first set, but the Buffanblu seized control near the midway point, extending to an 18-15 margin on a Lillie Klemmer kill to force a Raiders' timeout. Punahou continued to put on the pressure coming out of the timeout, exploding to a 22-16 lead on Mehana Maa's back-to-back kills, and Lishamn ended the set with a kill to end the first, 25-20.

In the second set, it was the Raiders who jumped out to a 3-0 lead early, but the Buffanblu clawed back to the tie things up at 9-all and steadily pulled away as the set progressed. A turning point in the set came with Punahou down 8-6, when an apparent block by Peroff was waved off on a called net violation by Lillie Klemmer. Klemmer grasped the net for support after landing awkwardly on an ankle, and needed to be helped off the court with an apparent ankle injury.

What was certainly a loss for the Buffanblu in terms of losing a key middle became a source of inspiration almost, as Punahou went on a 7-1 scoring spurt to take the lead in the set, and they did not look back in the set, reaching set point on a Piikea Clemens kill and taking the set two points later on a mishandled ball on the Raiders, 25-17.

The third set was all Punahou at the outset, with a Kiana Peroff kill punctuatiing a 5-0 run. Iolani closed to 14-10 midway through the third, stringing together a trio of points capped off by an Ana Ogilvie ace, but ultimately the night belonged to the Buffanblu. Lishman put down her 11th kill of the night at 17-11, Peroff reached double-digit kills a few points later at 21-13. Clemens notched her fourth to put Iolani on the ropes at 24-15, and the Raiders staved off two match points before hitting a kill attempt into the twine to end it.

Lishman added a block and Peroff an ace in the win. Four other Buffanblu players had at least four kills in the contest, led by Mehana Maa (7) and Klemmer (6). Setter Nikki Lum dished out 32 assists and added two aces.

Iolani was led by Moea Kekauoha's 10 kills and an ace. Buscher added six kills and two blocks in the loss.

Punahou's win over Iolani creates a three-way tie in the second round of play, with the Buffanblu, Raiders and Warriors all sporting 4-1 records. Iolani will host Kamehameha on Thursday at 5 p.m. with the winner facing Punahou on Thursday, time to be determined, with the winner claiming the second round title.

In the event that a team other than Iolani, which won the first round, wins the second round title, a final game will need to be played on Saturday to decide an overall champion.