Moanalua aces Kaiser to remain undefeated in league play


Moanalua improved to a perfect 9-0 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Eastern Division with a 25-13, 25-15, 25-20 win over Kaiser at Radford's Jim Alegre Gymnasium.

Keanu Kawaa was dominant at the service line, helping Na Menehune extend leads with tough serves that equated to natural points while racking racking up eight aces in the process.

Set three found Kaiser building some momentum, taking an 11-9 lead on back-to-back blocks by Ashton Taylor and Akira Davies. But Kawaa came back to the service line and Moanalua promptly went on a 7-0 run, a stretch that featured three aces, to seize back control of the set.

"Seeing that we was down by a few points and our energy was low, I just had to find a way to bring our energy up, motivate us and keep us in the game," said Kaawa.

A balanced Moanalua attack was led by Logan Ho, who had a match-high 11 kills. Kaawa put down seven kills and a block and Christian Tafao added four kills and two total blocks.

Kaiser outblocked Moanalua, 10-7, but never found any real continuity on offense, attributed to Na Menehune service game helping to keep the Cougars often out of system.

"We're a small blocking team so getting teams out of system is what's gonna help us a lot," said Kaawa. "We need to keep on giving tough serves to every other team and take them out (of system) and get us in a position to score."

The absence of middle Micah Ah See, who leads the Cougars in both totals kills and blocks, didn't help. Akira Davies (4 kills, 4 blocks, ace) and Gabe Singelman (5 kills, block) led Kaiser offensively.

Moanalua closes out the regular season Thursday with a home game, but like today's match, the game could be played at Radford if an electrical issue isn't resolved before then.