Moanalua's Karson Cruz puts down a kill attempt past the Waianae double block. Cruz has 5 kills and 4 blocks in the win over the Seariders. Peter Caldwell | SL

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SALT LAKE — With lucky number seven in its possession, there should be no question that Moanalua is head and shoulders above its public school brethren. 

A crowd of about 800 was on hand at the Jim Alegre Gymnasium to witness Moanalua claim its seventh straight Oahu Interscholastic Association — fifth in Division I — over Waianae Thursday night. Na Menehune swept the Seariders, 25-13, 25-20, 25-21 in the title game to finish league play without ever dropping a set. 

"They're just a well put together team that stays consistent throughout the whole entire match," Waianae coach Wilhem Wagner said on Na Menehune. "They were the better team, take nothing from them. They're awesome."

Winning the OIA title also gives Moanalua a seeded berth and first round bye in the New City Nissan/Hawaii High School State Athletic Association Division I Boys Volleyball Championships, which begins next Friday. 

"Today was one of those days where I really didn't have to do anything and the boys just did what they needed to do," said Moanalua coach Alan Cabanting. "They adjusted, made the changes where they needed to and that was great." 

Austin Matautia knocked down a match-high 15 kills to lead a plethora of Na Menehune hitters. Seyj Engleman turned it on in the final two sets to finish with 12 kills and Kamula Kaa had eight more to back up Matautia. Senior middle Karson Cruz added five kills and four block assists, while Gabriel Cruz and Bryson Chan had three and two kills respectively. 

"One thing good about tonight was that it shows that we really don't have to rely on me all the time," said Matautia. "We have Kamalu, Seyj, Karson, Gabe, and Bryson. We have so many options and that's what makes us a team, and that's what why we win." 

Setters Zach Kagehiro and Kalau Marasco-Ayau combined to deal 36 assists to Moanalua's hitters. Libero Garrison Gabriel added three more assists and 13 digs, and Kagehiro also notched two aces. 

"That's what we've been trying to do, and that's what we've been talking about from midseason," said Cabanting. ‘We're trying to distribute the sets as evenly possible. Everybody knows Matautia and the kind of hitter he is, and a lot o times he's going to be able to put balls away, but when we get other guys involved it becomes so much harder to be able to defend us, especially when the opposing middles have to go from one antenna to the other antenna." 

Na Menehune's hitters also did a good job of knocking down kill attempts to the right spots as the Seariders couldn't really get their passing game on point with Moanalua straying away from libero Jonah Poe. 

"We know he's a great passer and we respect his skill set and all that," said Engleman. "We just wanted to try and make it the easiest way possible for us to succeed." 

Nayton Kuresa had seven kills and Akoni Faumuina and Landon Young had six kills each to lead the Seariders. Jahren Muliagatele had 20 assists and Poe finished with 10 digs.