Waianae rallies by Kalaheo in four sets

Waianae's Hezekiah Agiga makes one of his 17 kills for the sea riders on the night. Peter Caldwell | SL

ALIAMANU — It's going to be the best of the west versus the best of the east in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I title game.

Waianae, the top-seeded team from the OIA Western Division, bounced back from dropping the opening set to defeat Kalaheo, 19-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-23, in a semifinal game at Radford's Jim Alegre Gymnasium Tuesday night. The Seariders will face off with defending OIA champion Moanalua Thursday for the league crown.

"Usually that's how we start our game," said Libero Jonah Poe. "We start slow and even though we're still behind, my team finds a way to come back and beat our opponent. Even though we struggle and try to get one point by one, we still come back from behind to take the match."

Poe was instrumental in the Seariders rally, accumulating four kills, four aces and a match-high 12 digs. He had a series of digs that sparked a 5-0 run to close out the second set, and had three straight aces in the third set to put Waianae up 22-15.

"That's what he does back there," said Waianae coach Wilhelm Wagner. "He digs balls and he saves us a lot. He's the leader in the backcourt. We don't let anything hit the floor without a fight."

The Seariders also used a pinpoint serving game to break down Kalaheo's passing ability. Waianae was able to rack up nine total service aces in the contest.

"We had to work on a more aggressive and consistent serve, and that's what we tried to execute today," said setter Jahren Muliagatele, who had the match-clinching ace.

Muliagatele dished out 33 assists to seven different hitters in the contest. Hezekiah Agiga and Landon Young benefitted the most from the sets, recording 17 and 12 kills respectively. Nayton Kuresa added six more and a block assist and Isaiah Agiga had four kills, two block assists and a solo block.

"We got back in it by moving their middle blockers," said Wagner. "Just spreading our sets around, not trapping our middles and giving them options out to the antennas."

Kainoa Peterson and Naia Singlehurst had 18 kills to lead the Mustangs in the loss. Setter Kupaa Harrison had a solid all-around performance with five kills, two total blocks, two aces, 34 assists and six digs.

First serve between Na Menehune and the Seariders will be about 30 minutes after the OIA Division II title game between Pearl City and Castle.

"They're a great team," Wagner said on Moanalua. "They're not up there by mistake, they're the real deal. We wanted to play them, it was a tough route to get there, but we wanted to play them. They're the best, we're undefeated. Put the best against the best and see what happens."

Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].