Punahou setter Micah Ma'a puts up a set against Maryknoll. Evan Asato | SL

Purchase image 1 of 4

Maryknoll's John Mayer puts down a kill attempt against Punahou. Evan Asato | SL

Purchase image 2 of 4

Punahou's Kupono Fey makes an outstanding dive to keep the ball in play. Evan Asato | SL

Purchase image 3 of 4

Punahou's Larry Tuileta makes a kill over Maryknoll blockers. Evan Asato | SL

Purchase image 4 of 4

It was a tale of two sets in Punahou's straight set win over Maryknoll, with the one constant storyline being the steady play of Micah Ma'a.

Ma'a, a sophomore setter, ran the Buffanblu offense to perfection in the first set, as the Buffanblu cruised to an easy win, then helped manufacture a victory in set number two, as the Spartans kept up point for point with the home team until the waning stages.

The 25-13, 25-23 victory improved defending state champion Punahou to 5-1 in ILH Division I play, while the Spartans dropped to 2-3.

Punahou clearly saw the best of times, at least in the scope of this match, in the first set, as the Buffanblu jumped out early and never looked back in a 25-13 blowout.

"I think our passing was there, and when our passing is there, its real easy for me to reward the guys," said Ma'a, who finished with 15 assists in the first set.

Punahou was both methodical and balanced in the set, jumping out to leads of 9-3 and 16-7, led by the trio of Taylor Wiens, Taylor Hayashida, Tui Tuileta, who all notched at least four kills in the early going.

Whether by design or simply because of a clicking offense, the Buffanblu's usual offensive focal point, Tuileta, was noticeably not in the early going, as Wiens, a junior opposite, slammed down 5 of his set-leading 6 kills down the stretch, including the game winner at 25-13.

"Taylor is hitting a lot smarter than he was in the beginning of the season, he's figuring out that you don't have swing a hundred percent all the time." said Punahou head coach Rick Tune. "Sometimes its where you hit the ball, not how hard."

In almost direct contrast to an easy win in the opening game, the Buffanblu felt at least some measure of pressure from the get-go in the second set, as the Spartans led for much of the first half of the second stanza, though never by more than 2 points.

And with the Buffanblu feeling the sting of some early unforced errors and struggling to find some offensive consistency, it was clear that, unlike the first game, Ma'a would need to get the ball going in Tuileta's direction.

"Its definitely a luxury (speaking of Tuileta). When things aren't going right, I need to get out of rut, he's our guy." said Ma'a.

And behind the arm of Tuileta, he Buffanblu seized what looked to be control of the set at 17-14, as the junior outside hitter hammered home his sixth kill of the second, forcing the Spartans to call for time, then pounded down another kill to extend the margin to 4.

Unfazed by the scoring run, Maryknoll would rally back to within a point, as John Mayer's fourth kill of the afternoon was followed up by a pair of Punahou miscues, forcing the home team to burn a timeout of their own to slow the changing momentum.

"Maryknoll played much better in the second set, but I think we had two total errors in the first set, and something like nine or ten in the second set." remarked Tune. "That's like a twenty point swing."

The Spartans held a 22-20 advantage late in the set, but back-to-back kills by Trent Thompson and Danny Andrews pulled the Buffanblu back to even, and a hitting error by the Spartans pushed the home team back in to the lead at 23-22.

Tufanua Iuvale, who led Maryknoll with 6 kills in the match, knocked a kill down the middle to tie the score at 23-all, but in crunch time, Punahou was able to prevail.

Ma'a found 6-foot-6 Kupono Fey on the edge for the Buffanblu's 24th point, and then on match point Ma'a left it for Tuileta, who rocketed his match-high 13th kill of the night down the pipe to end it.

Ma'a finished the afternoon with 3 kills and 2 digs to go along with 32 assists. Fey had a solid outing as well, contributing 4 kills, 4 digs and the matches only block.

Maryknoll libero Casey Takahashi had 7 digs, and Gabriel Shimizu added 4 digs and an ace. Setter Skylan Engleman contributed 14 assists, and added a kill and 4 digs.