Tai Manu-Olevao spiked 17 kills and added one block and one ace last night to help Punahou hold off visiting 'Iolani, 25-22, 21-25, 25-21, 25-22, in Interscholastic League of Honolulu girls volleyball action last night.
The Buffanblu, ranked No. 17 in the nation by ESPN Rise, improved to 9-0 in the ILH Division I race. The Raiders fell to 4-5.
Punahou had swept 'Iolani convincingly in their first two league meetings last month, but it was clearly a different Raiders team that showed up last night.
The first set was tight throughout and tied at 22-22 before the Buffanblu finally pulled away after a double-hit and kills by Carly Kan and Tayler Higgins.
In Game 2, it was 'Iolani that seized control at the end, breaking a 20-20 tie on Eesha Chun-Dela Cruz's kill and tying the match on Haley Robinson's kill off a quick middle set.
"(Coach Jenic Tumeneng) has done a good job with them," Punahou coach Peter Balding said. "They played well and put us on our heels."
The Buffanblu jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the third set, but the Raiders fought back and closed it to 15-13 after a pair of aces by Loxley Keala and later cut the margin to 22-21 on a double-block by Keala and Kamea Chock.
A serving error then gave possession back to Punahou and the Buffanblu closed out the set with two aces from Remo Gargao.
The Buffanblu took a 10-3 lead in Game 4, only to see 'Iolani scratch back again and tie it at 16-16 and then take a 20-18 lead on a kill by Chun-Dela Cruz. After a kill by Robinson put the Raiders up, 21-20, two hitting errors gave Punahou the lead back and Manu-Olevao followed with two kills and a block to cap off a 5-1 run to end the match.
"She's their go-to girl," Tumaneng said. "And when they get a good pass, they can go to their middles, too."
Kan and Brittney Markwith each added seven kills and Gargao added six kills, two blocks and two aces.
Sara Watanabe led 'Iolani with nine kills, Hokalei Dawson added eight kills and one block and Chun-Dela Cruz and Robinson each had seven kills. Keala finished with three kills and four aces.