Punahou's Ryan Wilcox rifles down a kill against Kamehameha in the first set Friday night. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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MAKIKI — Defending Division I state champion Punahou dominated visiting Kamehameha in straight sets for a 25-15, 25-11 win at Hemmeter Fieldhouse Friday night.

The Buffanblu relied on its starters for the entire duration of the opening game before going to their bench in the second set to improve to 2-0 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I standings.

Kamehameha dropped its third straight regular season contest and is now 0-3 in league play.

Ethan Siegfried had five kills and Ryan Wilcox added four more with four aces to help Punahou defeat Kamehameha in 39 minutes of game time. Kanai Akana, Buddy Scott and Alakai Todd each chipped in two kills and five other Punahou players also registered kills.

"I think we came out there trying to execute our game plan and I think we really did a good job of putting our foot on the pedal all the way through and just focusing on our side," said Wilcox.

Punahou doesn't play in another ILH contest till March 14, but will travel next weekend to take part in the Best of the West Boys Volleyball Invitational in San Diego. Senior setter DJ McInerny said the Buffanblu wanted to push themselves before their trip.

"We wanted to have a great match, a great, high-level match to prepare ourselves," said McInerny, who had 11 assists in the opening frame before giving way to Scott and Jameson McKibbin in the second set. "This is really testing us before we really test ourselves. I think we showed tonight that we were very capable and I think we're going to be able the handle the competition up in San Diego."

As good as the Buffanblu were Friday night, they still have the potential to be even better.

"I thought it was nice to get everybody some significant playing time. I think we executed, but I think you saw us make some early season type mistakes," said Punahou coach Rick Tune.

On the other hand, the Warriors are a work in process. Kamehameha second-year coach Randy Nako remained optimistic after the match and remained focused on the entire scope of the season.

"Because we're young and most of the kids haven't seen the speed of the ball, especially on the serve, they did the best they could," said Nako. "The main thing (was) I didn't want to see was them just get scared, which they didn't. The freshman, the first-year varsity players did good so I'm not that disappointed.

"We're a young, evolving team so you go to go through these pains. As long as our coaches can be patient with them and bring them along I think in the long term they'll be OK."

A new look for Kamehameha this season was a shift to a 6-2 offensive system. Sophomore Matthew Saffery, who started at setter as freshman, will do a little bit of everything for the evolving Warriors.

"Matt is one of the two best passers and he has the highest volleyball IQ, so I can't waste him on (just) setting," said Nako. "The setters we have our young so they have to learn."

Offensively the Warriors haven't settled on a go-to guy yet. Hauoli Sturm led the Warriors in the loss with two kills and two digs, and five other Kamehameha players registered kills, but playing time is still up for grabs.

"We're trying to find them," Nako said when asked who his main hitters are. "They're all getting their chances so someone will emerge."

Punahou may have got past the Warriors with ease, but Tune thinks it'll be a much tougher match the next time around.

"I think that team is going to much better midseason when they've had a chance to work together, play together and iron out some things," he said. "I think they're going to be a very dangerous team to play."