Punahou fought and scratched its way past Kamehameha last night, 25-22, 21-25, 27-25, 25-15, to clinch its seventh consecutive Interscholastic League of Honolulu boys volleyball championship.
A crowd of about 450 at Kamehameha's Kekuhaupi'o Gym watched the Buffanblu -- ranked No. 4 in the nation by ESPN Rise -- improve to 18-0 in ILH play with one match remaining tomorrow at Saint Louis. Kamehameha, ranked No. 6, fell into a second-place tie with 'Iolani at 15-3 with a home match against No. 33-ranked Maryknoll in tomorrow's regular season finale.
If 'Iolani -- which plays host to Mid-Pacific (6-11) tomorrow -- and Kamehameha finish tied for second place, they will face each other later this week in a special playoff for the league's second and final state tournament berth.�
Punahou, meanwhile, can now finally turn its focus toward a run at a third straight state title.
"It's a big relief," said Buffanblu freshman outside hitter Tui Tuileta, who finished with a team-high 19 kills last night. "We knew Kamehameha would be a big challenge, playing in their own house with a great crowd, but we just tried to play our game and play good volleyball."
Punahou succeeded early, using a 6-2 run to steal the first set after the Warriors had taken a 20-19 lead on a kill by Micah Christenson. But Kamehameha came back strong in the second set, finishing with a 5-1 run sparked by Christenson's two kills and an ace.
The Warriors then took a 24-23 lead in the pivotal third set after a Buffanblu hitting error, but Tuileta tied it with an offspeed shot from the left side off a double block. After the teams traded points, Punahou pulled ahead on Brandon Pitzer's kill from the middle and ended it on Kupono Fey's tip shot off a double block.
"Earlier in the season we were having a hard time making those plays late in the set, but to the players' credit they've learned how to finish things," Buffanblu coach Rick Tune said.�
The momentum carried over to the fourth set, as Punahou jumped out to a 7-1 lead and never looked back. Kamehameha had fallen behind 9-5 in the first set, 3-0 in the second and 4-1 in the third.
"Our starts were not good tonight," Warriors coach Kainoa Downing said. "We didn't execute well, we didn't pass well enough to run our offense consistently."
Ben Lam added 15 kills and two blocks for the Buffanblu, and Sean Gruebner finished with eight kills, one block and an ace. Christenson had a match-high 27 kills and added two aces, and Daylan Chock had 14 kills and a block for Kamehameha.