Kalaheo's Silila Tucker puts up a set against Kaiser. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Kalaheo's Sam Orcutt elevates for a kill attempt against Kaiser. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Kalaheo's Anthony Rowan (15) and Kupa'a Harrison (5) battle Kaiser's Riker Kasamoto at the net. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Kalaheo's towering front line and the all-around play of Silila Tucker help fuel the Mustangs to a 25-23, 25-18 victory over Kaiser at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium Tuesday night.

The Mustangs seized the momentum in set two after trailing early on, with a pair of resounding blocks by 6-foot-7 Luke Owens that pushed the margin to 16-13.

Then, Tucker put the game all but out of reach at 21-16, serving up a pair of aces to extend the margin to 7.

The senior setter padded his stat line across the board, slamming down 3 kills to go along with two aces, two blocks and at least 3 digs, and also dished out 14 assists in the win.

"I tried to get my game more well-rounded (in the offseason)," said Tucker. "including my block, I wanted to improve on that."

The Mustangs took control in set one from the get go, boosting out to a 15-8 lead with a balanced offensive attack that saw kills put down by 6 different Kalaheo players.

Slowly but surely, Kaiser clawed back into the game, eventually tying the score at 20-all on an ace by Riker Kasamoto and then again at 23-23 on a Christian Sele spike.

"We tried to let them figure it out more, and we don't have that much game time experience so these kind of stuff right here is a good test for them to dig deep." said Kalaheo head coach Ed Chun.

That would be as far as Kaiser would get, as an unforced service error by the Cougars was followed up by a Kupa'a Harrison kill to notch the Mustangs a 25-23 win in the first set.

Kaiser built a 5-1 lead in the second set, but saw that advantage steadily diminish as Kalaheo rediscovered some offensive consistency near the midway point.

"We just tried to calm down, side out, take it one point at a time, just chip away at score cause that's all you can do." said Tucker.

The Mustangs enjoyed a 5-1 scoring spurt following a Mason Ohta kill that pushed the Cougars' lead to 9-5, as Tucker spiked down a ball, combined with Anthony Rowan on a block on the next serve, then hooked up with Sam Orcutt on a trio of set-and-slams to tie the score at 10.

Owens, who recorded three total blocks in the deciding second set, added his final block of the evening in tandem with, who else but Tucker, to extend the Stang lead to 17-14.

"Blocks are a big momentum changer, they give you a lot of energy when you get a block." remarked Tucker.

An Orcutt kill courtesy of a Tucker set brought Kalaheo to match point, and on the ensuing serve, the ball would travel a few times across the net before a Cougars' kill attempt was turned back by Rowan for a resounding block, the seventh of the game for Kalaheo, and the win.

Daniel Fraser led the Cougars with four kills, while Orcutt had a game-high 6 and Harrison 5 spikes respectively for the Mustangs.

The week does not get any easier for the Mustangs, who get set to play in the Hawai'i Boys Volleyball Invitational Tournament set to start on Thursday at Iolani School as well as a pair of league games at home on Friday.

"We don't have a preseason so that (the HBVI tournament) really helps us in the gametime situations." said Chun.

"We play a lot of mainland teams, so it will be a really good experience for us." added Tucker.