Chase for the Championship
Moanalua gets by Iolani, will face Punahou next


Kalani Takase | ScoringLive
May 4, 2018, 11:26pm

 


SALT LAKE — Cole Fukumitsu recorded 51 assists and four different players recorded double-digit kills to lead Moanalua to a four-set win over Iolani in the semifinals of the New City Nissan Division I Boys Volleyball State Championships Friday.

The scores were 25-15, 35-33, 29-27 and 26-24.

A late afternoon crowd of about 500 fans at Moanalua saw the Oahu Interscholastic Association champion Na Menehune improve to 16-0 and clinch a spot in Saturday's state final against six-time defending champ Punahou.

Moanalua, seeded second in the tournament and ranked third in the Hawaiian Electric/ScoringLive Power Rankings, will be making its first championship match appearance since 2016, when it was swept by Punahou.

Second-ranked Iolani, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu runner-up, fell to 12-5. It was seeking its first state final since 2008, when it won the last of three state championship in school history.

Na Menehune have never won a state championship in boys volleyball.

"It feels really great and it's these kids just working their butts off from the beginning of the season all the way until now and coming together as a team and understanding that the only way they can get through to the championship match and do some good things against Punahou is to play as a team. I think off our hitting, off of our blocking, off of the serves, every single one of these kids contributed to our win today," Moanalua coach Alan Cabanting said.

Cole Fukumitsu (9) recorded 51 assists as four different Moanalua players recorded double-digit kills. Leighland Tagawa | SL    Purchase image

The statistics back Cabanting's claim.

Kalai Leopoldo posted a team-high 16 kills to go with 14 kills, Kainoa Ferguson had 15 kills — and hit .314 — with 11 digs, Max Slaughter contributed 14 kills with 14 digs and DiAeris McRaven added 10 kills with five solo blocks.

To be sure, Moanalua's hitters benefitted from the return of All-OIA East setter Cole Fukumitsu, who did not play in Thursday's quarterfinal sweep of Kamehameha-Hawaii due to fatigue.

"We've just been playing this whole week and I've been pretty exhausted so they decided to rest me that game so I would be ready for today's game," said Fukumitsu, a 6-foot junior. "I was still kind of feeling under the weather, but I was glad because I'm feeling better today than I was yesterday and I just pushed because I know the guys need me so I needed to be there for them."

Moanalua out-hit Iolani for the match, .218 to .131.

The opening set saw the Menes running on all cylinders offensively, when they hit .423 to just .077 for the Raiders.

"It's gigantic. It is so gigantic," Cabanting said of Fukumitsu's return. "We struggled (Thursday) night with our set location and we have Max, Kainoa and Kalai, they understood that and last night when the set just wasn't quite there, they were able to do something with it and find a way to get us the kill. With Iolani it's a little bit tougher and we needed the sets to be a little bit more precise so they can attack however the hitters wanted to instead of trying to salvage some of the sets we had the previous day."

Fukumitsu said the team's offensive balance was key to overcoming Iolani and its heavy dosage of University of Hawaii-signee outside hitter Cole Hogland, who finished with 22 kills on 55 swings — both match-high marks.

"Every single attacker I can trust and when I go to them I know they're going to put the ball away so definitely I can spread the offense around wherever it needs to be," Fukumitsu said.

After Moanalua ran away with the opening set, the teams went back and forth in a marathon second set.

Ryan Wilcox put down 15 kills as Punahou returns to the title game to defend its title. Leighland Tagawa | SL

No. 1 PUNAHOU 3, KEALAKEHE 1:

Ryan Wilcox put down 15 kills and Kanai Akana added 11 as top-seeded Punahou beat fourth-seeded Kealakehe 25-13, 25-15, 22-25 and 25-14 in the late semifinal Friday. The six-time defending state champion Buffanblu (15-0) hit .357 for the match to .055 for the Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion Waveriders (14-3). Anthony Trevino had 16 kills and Isaiah Hooper added 11 for Kealakehe, which saw its nine-game win streak snapped and will face Iolani in the third-place match.


Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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