Punahou sweeps past 'Iolani to stay unbeaten

Punahou's Tayler Higgins sets a ball against 'Iolani. Brien Ing | SL

Remo Gaogao and Carly Kan led the way with eight kills each and Tai Manu-Olevao added six kills tonight as Punahou swept past visiting 'Iolani, 25-16, 25-16, at Hemmeter Fieldhouse.
The Buffanblu improved to 2-0 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, while the Raiders fell to 1-1.

Kan had two kills and an ace to highlight an 8-1 run in the first set as Punahou broke away from a 6-6 tie to go up, 14-7. She later spiked back-to-back kills to stretch the lead to 19-10, and 'Iolani could not get closer than eight points the rest of the way.
The second set was similar, with the Buffanblu breaking away from a 7-6 lead to stretch it to 11-6, and then using a 5-1 run to push ahead, 17-10.
The Raiders closed it to 20-15 on a kill by Holakei Dawson, but Punahou responded with kills from Gaogao, Brittney Markwith and Manu-Olevao to widen the lead to 24-15, and the match ended two points later on a serving error.
Kan had seven of her eight kills in the first set, and Gaogao had all eight of her kills in the second set. Manu-Olevao's six kills were split evenly between the two sets.
Buffanblu coach Peter Balding said setter Tayler Higgins kept 'Iolani on its toes by distributing the ball to different hitters, as Brittney Markwith, Taylor Dayton and Marie Rewick each added two kills.
"I thought she spread the ball around well," Balding said. "Our game plan was to attack the middle and the right side, and that would open up some pukas on the left side. Our passing was steady, too, so that helped."