Punahou's Wil Stanley and Sam Bradley turn back a kill attempt by Mira Costa's Jackson Wedbush. Peter Caldwell | SL

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MAKIKI — The final game of the annual Punahou Boys Volleyball invitational lived up to its namesake Saturday night.

Host Punahou fought valiantly and prevailed over the visiting Mustangs of Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) in five sets to end the Clash of the Titans Tournament on a high note.

A crowd of about 500 at the Hemmeter Fieldhouse saw the Buffanblu score 21 points off of blocks to win by scores of 24-26, 25-23, 21-25, 25-14 and 15-8.

"I'm just so happy and proud of them," Punahou coach Rick Tune said about his team. "Sometimes people don't understand that even when you have a really talented bunch of kids, how much they have to go through to reach their potential. Tonight we really started doing some things that we've been talking about all year, but haven't done (yet)."

The Buffanblu played three tight sets before dominating in the final two games. With middles Akahi Troske (match-high nine blocks) and Sam Bradley (eight blocks) leading the effort defensively, Punahou was able to pull away late for the thrilling victory.

Wil Stanley took the most swings and finished with a team-high 12 kills with six blocks and six digs. Kanai Akana had 11 kills and seven blocks — two solo — and Ethan Siegfried and Ryan Wilcox each had eight kills to round out the Buffanblu's kill leaders.

Setters D.J. McInerny and Todd Gruebner combined for 45 assists in the victory. McInerny also added four aces followed by Shea Suzuomoto, who had three. Libero Kelsey Yogi had a team-high 12 digs to lead the back row.

Jackson Wedbush led Mira Costa in the loss with a match-high 18 kills. Roy McFarland added 16 more and libero Sam Jones had a match-high 15 digs.

Punahou, who was swept by Corona Del Mar (Newport Beach, Calif.) the night before, jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the opening set. The Buffanblu maintained the lead all the way until the Mustangs tied it at 17, prompting a Punahou timeout.

After the time out, Mira Costa got an ace from setter Rob Mullahey (41 assists) to take its first lead of the game, 18-17. With momentum on the side, the Mustangs were able to pull ahead to 24-21 before another Punahou timeout. The Buffanblu rallied to tie it at 24, but dropped the last two points to lose game one.

Mira Costa held the advantage for most of the second set and led 18-14 before Punahou started to rally. A solo block from Akana and two straight aces by Shea Suzumoto helped the Buffanblu take a 21-20 lead. Punahou eventually took the set after Wedbush's attack went out.

The third set was a similar story as the Mustangs again had a 18-14 lead. Punahou scored the next three points before Mira Costa sided out. The home team never recovered and the Mustangs were able to take a two games to one lead.

Both teams traded points early in the fourth set before Punahou used a 4-1 burst to take a 9-5 lead and force a Mira Costa timeout. Then the block party started.

Punahou got three combined blocks in a 5-3 spurt that saw Mira Costa take another timeout with the Buffanblu up 14-8.

"We finally started doing what we practiced," said Tune. "We just settled down, got back to our basic, got back to our read blocking. We see how effective that system is, once we do it right."

With momentum on their side and the home crowd riled up, the Buffanblu was able to roll to a dominating set four victory. The effort continued into the final set and Punahou was able to take the match.

Troske, who added six kills, credited the energy of the team's bench for the resurgence.

"I think it all starts with the bench, just getting everyone riled up and keeping our energy up," he said on team's late-game prowess. "That was one of our goals. Last night we felt like we were dying off a little bit near the end. We just wanted to keep it up the whole time and they helped us."

Corono Del Mar beats KS-Hawaii, 3-1
The Sea Kings defeated the visiting Warriors from Hawaii Island by scores of 26-24, 20-25, 25-17, and 25-21.

Setter Matt Ctvrtlik distributed the ball to multiple hitters and finished with 47 assists. Jake Meyer, who didn't play in the opening set, had 15 kills to lead Corono Del Mar.

Avery Enriques had a double-double of 20 kills and 12 digs to lead KS-Hawaii. Isaiah Laeha added 15 more kills for the Warriors.