Maryknoll battles past University Lab to earn final ILH berth to states

Brien Ing | SL

The Spartans are marching on to states.

Maryknoll got 17 kills from Tayah-Anne Toa and 14 more from Hope Fine, and needed just about every single of them as it got all it could possibly want from defending state Division II champion University Lab in a 25-15, 18-25, 26-24, 25-23 thriller of a match in front of near capacity crowd at Ching Gymnasium.

"it's really important to have both me and Hope," said Toa. "I know that if I can't get the ball down once I can count on her and it's vice versa."

The win gave the Spartans the season edge over the Jr. Bows, but more importantly, secured the fourth and final berth out of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu into the upcoming HHSAA Division II state tournament.

Like two prizefighters, Maryknoll took the first big swing, cruising to a 25-15 win in set one, before University Lab went on the offensive in the second, turning the tide with a 25-18 victory to even the match at one set apiece.

That set up a slugfest of a finish.

First in set three, the Spartans jumped out to an 12-5 lead on a Maile Masutani kill only to see a seven point margin slowly but surely evaporate as the Jr. Bows chipped and chipped away, finally tying the match on a Lilianna Dutcher ace at 21-all.

A tied score was as close as University Lab got in the set, however, as Fine put down a kill at 24-all, and Masutani served up an ace to give the home team a crucial set advantage heading into the fourth.

Set four was tight early, but the Spartans pushed out to a small margin at 16-12 before the Jr. Bows went on a 6-1 spurt fueled by a pair of kills by Logan Yogi to grab the lead at 18-17.

The visitors held leads of 21-19 and 23-21 in the set, but that was as close as they would be able to push, as the Spartans rallied to score the final four points to end the match, capped off by Toa's 17th kill.

"Honestly I really think that we just kind of stuck together as a team," said Toa of the win. "We really been talking about just not focusing on what's going on the bleachers, what our coaches or anybody else is saying but each other and just really looking inwards but yet outwards, if that makes sense, and just staying aggressive."

Maryknoll is making a second straight appearance to the state postseason, where it finished as a semifinalist in 2020, losing to Le Jardin in four sets.

"I think just mentally for us it's going in taking it one game at a time and just treating it like it's normal season and just staying calm and just playing.

University Lab finished the year at 10-7.