KS-Hawaii sweeps Iolani to advance to championship


The Warriors celebrate after a point against Iolani. John Lujan | SL

SALT LAKE — It took two seasons, but the Warriors are back.

Kamehameha-Hawaii swept Iolani, 25-18, 25-21, 25-21 in the New City Nissan/HHSAA Division I Boys Volleyball Championships semifinals at Moanalua on Friday night.

The Warriors play the Buffanblu in a 2015 title game rematch at the Neal Blaisdell Center following the Division II state title game.

The Raiders drop to play Waiakea for third place, but Iolani made it to the state tournament for the first time since 2010.

"I can't say enough how this group embraced the challenge. They bumped the level up for Iolani volleyball a few levels," said Iolani coach Jordan Inafuku.

Avery Enriques led KS-Hawaii with a team-high 11 kills, his twin brother Addison Enriques added 11 digs. Jai Makuakane and Kameron Moses each dished out 13 assists.

"I'm proud of our setters. Normally we would have inconsistencies and would get called on hand stuff which would take them out of the picture. But I'm proud of the boys today," said Guy Enriques.

Guy Enriques brought in guest speakers to inspire his team with a different voice before the match and the Warriors responded.

"We had some good people and give us some talks. They came in and watched us the night before and gave us and me comments. You get advice from people you look up to and you get input from outside the team and a source of reputation," said Guy Enriques.

The Warriors went on a 5-0 run and led 10-5 until Iolani called a timeout. Raiders managed to cut it down to one three times, but KS-Hawaii found a way to pull away slowly and went up, 19-15 to force another Iolani timeout. The Raiders would get no closer than four as the Warriors claimed set one.

Iolani had 27 attack errors and seven serve errors on the game and KS-Hawaii took advantage.

"They forced you to play disciplined volleyball. We didn't play disciplined enough and they make you earn points and we gave up a few too many," said Inafuku.

"They didn't play as well as they could, I think they had some breakdowns. There were great scores all the way and it could've been flipped around," said Guy Enriques, on Iolani.

KS-Hawaii started pulling away with a 13-8 lead, but Iolani rallied to cut it down to two twice and tied the game at 18 as the Warriors took a quick timeout. The Raiders took the lead momentarily, 19-18, but the Warriors responded with five straight points as Iolani had to burn another timeout. KS-Hawaii capitalized on Iolani mistakes to end on a 7-2 run.

"The rest of the team picked it up and carried the load and it was a great team effort," said Guy Enriques.

Iolani trailed for most of the set by two. The Harimoto-to-Hugh Hogland combo kept the Raiders within striking distance as Hogland recorded eight kills. Hugh Hogland finished with a game-high 17 kills and hit .211 and Harimoto had 30 assists. Koa Among contributed a game-high 15 digs.

"Hugh is a great player. He's been doing a great job all year and we got him some balls there because he got hot. He did a great job," said Inafuku, on Hugh Hogland.

Nalu Kahapea and Malama McKeague combined for a block for a 23-20 lead as Iolani called a timeout. Kahapea missed most of the season but came through in stretches with eight kills. The Warriors had 17 blocks to Iolani's nine. An attack error on Iolani and a kill by Addison Enriques gave the Warriors the sweep.

"He hasn't been with us for some time. He missed a good part of our season. To pick up where he left off, he was a big factor," said Guy Enriques, on Kahapea.



Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].