Punahou's Kanai Akana puts down a kill over Maryknoll's Andrew Caraang in the first set of an ILH Division I match. Peter Caldwell | SL

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MAKIKI — Punahou didn't have to travel as far for its latest victory.

The Buffanblu continued their winning ways with a 25-15, 25-19 win over Maryknoll in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I contest at Tony Selitto Court at T.C. Ching Gymnasium Tuesday night.

Ryan Wilcox had seven kills and five aces and Kanai Akana added five kills and one block to help Punahou hand the Spartans (3-1) their first loss of the season in 37 minutes of game time.

The Buffanblu, winners of the last five Division I state titles, was playing in its first league contest since March 3. They did however participate in the Best of the West Boys Volleyball Invitational 32-team tournament in San Diego over the past weekend and took top honors in the process.

The short turnaround saw Punahou (3-0) commit 20 total errors in their closest ILH match of the s eason so far.

"We knew this was going to be a tough match, just getting back two days ago, bodies is pretty tired," said Punahou coach Rick Tune. "We knew it was going to be hard to come in here. Maryknoll always plays tough and they always push us, especially in this gym. We had a practice before this match to get a lot of the kinks out, we did that to probably the best degree that we could, but we certainly we're not that crisp tonight."

One positive for the Buffanblu was the play of junior setter Jameson McKibbin, who had 11 assists in the opening game. McKibbin was third on the depth chart in Punahou's previous contest, but has taken over the starting job at this point in time.

"Jameson really I think earned that spot when we were in San Diego," said Tune. "He shows a lot of leadership and a lot of poise in there. He's able to make sure that our energy is being sustained even when it's not quite time."

Punahou, who ran a 5-1 for the opening set, shifted back to a 6-2 offense to give more players playing time in the second game.

"We can play a lot of different styles," said Tune. "We have a couple of young guys on the roster. We have two freshman, we're gradually working them into the scheme. We want to give them opportunities to be successful and situations where they can be successful. Right now they have small roles. If they keep working hard and producing, they'll earn an even bigger chunk.

On the other side of the net, Maryknoll coach David Bayne was proud of his team's resiliency to battle back against the defending state champs.

"I think we played well," Bayne said. "It's good to see the right in them, to see them be competitive against a team like that. They are the best, they've been the best, so to be able to come out and fight, that's something that I like to see out of the boys."

Bayne credited senior setter Andrew Caraang and junior libero Chad Oshiro as the key players that hold the team down. Caraang had a match-high 14 assists while Oshiro had seven digs against the Buffanblu.

"We don't run without them. Without those two, I don't know where we'd be."

Maryknoll took the charge early in the second set, going up 4-1 to force a Punahou timeout.

"Just positive energy, starting from scratch, 0-0, new game doesn't matter what happened in the first set," said Bayne. "They were able to come out high and come out hot, and we were able to get out an early lead."

The Buffanblu eventually pulled ahead at 7-6, and was able to keep Maryknoll at bay to complete the straight set sweep.

Destin Takenaka-Amodo had five kills, two blocks and five digs and Matthew Sun had four kills to lead the Spartans in the loss.