Moanalua's Austin Matautia had a match-high 8 kills in a straight set win over McKinley. Sean Nakamura | SL

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McKinley's Jerry Wu tools a swing off of a Moanalua double-block. Sean Nakamura | SL

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McKinley's Brandon Walker is challenged at the net by Moanalua's Reno Young (10) and Hadrian Paulino (3). Sean Nakamura | SL

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Moanalua's Tahi Caldwell celebrates after a successful block against McKinley. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Needing to string together four wins to bring home a third consecutive OIA Red boys volleyball title, Moanalua took a big step forward toward that goal in an afternoon match against McKinley, dismantling the East second-seed in straight sets, 25-20, 25-13.

Tahi Caldwell returned to action after sitting out in the quarterfinals and made his presence felt, notching seven kills, a block and ace, but more importantly, forced the Tigers to account for another big arm on the floor, which opened up the offense significantly for Na Menehune.

The biggest beneficiary was freshman outside hitter Austin Matautia, who found himself facing a single block for much of the match and capitalized, slamming down a match-high eight kills. He also added 3 digs, 2 aces and a block.

"When the young boys step up, especially Austin, when he's on we're pretty much unstoppable." said Caldwell.

And Moanalua certainly had a completely different look in comparison to the one that took the floor in a 3 sets to 1 loss against Kaiser just two nights ago, particularly in game number two, where Na Menehune seized control midway through the set with a 11-3 scoring spurt that included two aces each by libero Austin Amian and Augustiro and three kills by Caldwell.

But the two-time defending champion Na Menehune will take the long road to a possible three-peat, needing a win on Tuesday against Kalaheo followed by a victory over Kaiser on Thursday and then another win over the Cougars in the "if" game that would take place on Saturday.

"One of our coaches just told us that we're one of the few teams we get a chance at revenge on each of the team's we lost to in the regular season, so that's definitely a motivator for us going in." said Caldwell.

Middle blocker Jerry Wu led the way for the Tigers with 7 kills and 6 digs.