Moanalua dominates to reclaim league crown


The Moanalua boys volleyball team celebrates after beating Kaiser in the OIA Division I championship match. CJ Caraang | SL

Order has been restored.

The kings have taken back the throne.

After seeing its championship streak snapped last year, Moanalua reclaimed the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I title Wednesday night at Jim Alegre Gymnasium with a dominating 25-15, 25-18, 25-11 win over Kaiser in the league final.

Na Menehune also completed an undefeated run through the OIA as they captured their ninth overall league title in 10 years, their first since losing to Mililani in the 2017 title match.

"We put in a lot of work and we definitely wanted it back, and I think it showed tonight how hard we worked," said senior libero Caleb Casinas. "As a team, we won this. There was no individual that won this for us. I think winning it together as a team is something that's truly special."

Moanalua (14-0) came out on fire from the get-go, winning the opening set in under 20 minutes even with TV timeouts. Nearly every ball that Ma Menehune attacked in the first stanza found its way to an open spot on the Cougars' side of the court. By the time Kaiser recorded a dig in the first set, the score was only 21-12 in favor of Moanalua.

"I just think the fuel from the fire from last year that we had (helped us)," said Casinas. "We're hungry and we came here with the confidence knowing that we're going to win, and I think that carried on to the floor and that got us the win."

Film review from Na Menehune's semifinal four-set win over Mililani on Monday also played a part. Moanalua, who had several players arrive late to pregame warmups due to traffic, looked sluggish against the Trojans as it committed a number of unforced errors and dropped its first and only set in league play.

"We talked about it, we watched the game yesterday, just making sure ‘hey, this is the type of things that we cannot be doing in a championship match,' and they executed phenomenally well," Moanalua coach Alan Cabanting said.

The same energy that Moanalua had to start the game carried all the way through as the Cougars (12-2) could only delay what seemed like the inevitable. Kaiser also suffered a big loss when outside hitter Jon Stanley Jr. went down with an apparent ankle injury in the second set with the scoreboard reading 8-3.

"We was really hungry and we pushed all the way through, and we just kept going and going," said senior Kalai Leopoldo, who led Moanalua's attack with a match-high 14 kills.

Kainoa Ferguson and Max Slaughter each had two aces and put down eight and seven kills respectively to round out the leading hitters for Moanalua. Other key contributors include middles Duncan Clark and DiAeris McRaven, who combined for six kills and five blocks, Casinas with a match-high eight digs and Cole Fukumitsu with 26 assists.

Stanley Jr. and Jacob Summers each had six kills to lead the Cougars in the loss.

The two teams are two of six squads that will represent the OIA in next week's New City Nissan Volleyball Championships. As the OIA runner-up, Kaiser will host a first round game on Monday, April 30 while Moanalua will have a full week off before playing in the quarterfinals on Thursday, May 3.



Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].