Buffanblu ease past Rough Riders in quarterfinal round

CJ Caraang | SL

SALT LAKE — The No. 1 seed loooked the part Thursday night.

Keaukaiokaiwi Tavares Thompson put down 12 kills and hit .450 and top-ranked Punahou cruised to a 25-8, 25-19, 25-16 rout of No. 10 Roosevelt in the quarterfinals of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Division I Boys Volleyball State Championships at Moanalua.

The Buffanblu (14-0) posted a .414 hitting percentage as a team in the tidy 62-minute sweep of the Rough Riders (12-3).

Tavares Thompson took a match-high 20 swings and had just three attack errors. Punahou also got nine kills from Riley Haine, seven from Aidan Tune and six from Kahale Clini. Haine and Clini also accounted for half of their team's eight service aces with two apiece.

Jordan Kan led Roosevelt with five kills.

The Rough Riders hit .000 for the match. They had 11 kills against 11 errors on 44 total swings.

Roosevelt will play No. 6 Kamehameha-Maui in a fifth-place semifinal, 5 p.m. Friday at McKinley.

Punahou, which has won the last eight state championships, will meet No. 7 Mililani in the 5 p.m. championship semifinal Friday at Moanalua. The 7 p.m. semifinal will feature No. 2 Kamehameha and No. 4 Moanalua.