Brother Rice's Mitch Weiler puts down a kill attempt against Kamehameha. Peter Caldwell | SL

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Brother Rice players and coaches pose for a team picture following the HBVI title game. Peter Caldwell | SL

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Kamehameha's David Ka'a'a's kill attempt is blocked by Brother Rice's Matt Mandernach. Peter Caldwell | SL

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Brother Rice completed an undefeated run at the Hawaii Boys Volleyball Invitational, gutting out a three-set classic over Kamehameha-Kapalama in the Gold bracket final to win, 26-24, 28-30, 15-10.

The Crusaders, who made the journey all the way from Chicago, Illinois, rumbled through the three-day tournament without a single blemish in the win-loss column until facing off with the Warriors.

"Its the best we've ever played in my 22 years on an opening weekend," said Brother Rice head coach Brother Paul Ickes. "The guys did not freak out when we got down, they kept their poise, and they did some really amazing things."

Kamehameha played arguably its best volleyball of the year against Brother Rice, battling nearly point-for-point against their much taller and stronger opponents with great floor defense and a decidedly faster pace offensively.

"Its a lot faster pace than we are used to," said Brother Rice setter Jim Dwyer. "Not as many guys (we've seen) can make the kind of digs and passes like the Hawaii players."

"The defense of both Kamehameha schools today (KS-Kapalama and KS-Hawaii) unlike any I've seen in my 22 years of coaching," stated Ickes. "The precision, I'm still in awe at the level of play."

The Warriors never trailed by more than 3 points on the scoreboard, but the hard-hitting Crusaders' front line, led by Ball State Univeristy commit 6-foot-4 Mitch Weiler and 6-foot-5 Kevin Myren, who signed a letter of internt to play at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, certainly made it feel like the margin was much more than it actually was.

"I feel like playing against a good team like Brother Rice really helped us, it really boosted our confidence playing against bigger opponents," said Kaehu Ka'a'a. "This tournament brought us up a lot and I feel its going to help us in the long run in the ILH."

Kamehameha continued to chip away, and coming out of a timeout at 23-20, rallied to tie the game up at 23-all thanks to a string of points that included a George Kailiwai kill and a Cody Wong ace before a net violation by the Crusaders' block forced a timeout.

Coming out of the timeout, the tandem of Weiler and Myren came up big accounting for all three points down the stretch, including a pair of kills by Weiler that gave Brother Rice the first set, 26-24.

The second set was a near carbon copy of the first set, right down to the timeout called by the visiting Crusaders at the 23-all mark. This time around however, the Warriors' fended off five match points in a row, getting the breakthrough they needed at the 28-all mark as a David Ka'a'a block finally managed to turn the tide.

Kaehu Ka'a'a was a key in the second set, slamming home 3 of his 6 kills in set in the final points to ward off the Crusaders on each occasion.

"He's our guy, we have to go to him. And he did a great job," remarked Downing when asked about Ka'a'a. "He's not the biggest kid out here but he carries the load, he does smart things, he hits hard, and he hit some smart shots and that's important for him. He's a great leader."

Timeout was called by Brother Rice, and on the ensuing serve, the Crusaders' kill attempt rocketed harmlessly into the middle of the net, giving the clearly elated Warriors the second set, 30-28.

Kamehameha rode the momentum gained at the tail end of the second set into the third, leading much of the deciding game until a trio of miscues helped Brother Rice take a 10-9 advantage heading into the final points.

A Kahiau Machado kill tied the score at 10-all, but the front line power of the Crusaders proved to be just too much, as a Weiler kill, his game-high 15th, put Brother Rice up for good.

The Crusaders added 3 more natural points on a block, a Myren kill and a David Kelly swing to the floor, before the double block of Matt Mandernach and Myren ended the match.

"Number 22 (Myren) is usually our middle," said Dwyer, "but we moved him to the right side to put a big blocker there, we rely on him to make those kinds of plays."

Keahu Ka'a'a finished with a team-high 13 kills for Kamehameha, but was held without a kill in the final set. Libero Michael Horita anchored a stellar backcourt defense for the Warriors, and recorded a match-high 10 digs, including more than a handful of them laser beam shots that left the Crusaders' hitters a little shell-shocked at times.

"When that team is pounding it, and my guy is digging it, it doesn't feel good to get dug by him every time," said Downing.

"It was frustrating," agreed Dwyer. "I think it was for my hitters not being able to put down a lot (of swings). I got a lot of one-on-one plays, where it seemed we would easily get the kill, but their passing was great."

Brother Rice was paced offensively by Weiler and Myren, who combined for 27 kills, and setter Jim Dwyer, who notched 33 assists.

Myren had 7 of the 11 blocks for the Crusaders, more than double the output the Warriors had as a team (3).

Overall, Ickes and his players couldn't have asked for much more out of his players or the experience.

"Its great for them to see that there is a different level of ball than we play, but also just the whole experience of being here. The environment, the people here have been nothing but friendly and helpful and kind."

"All of that, plus the beach time. We've had 80 inches of snow this year, we've had temperatures in the minus 30's. It was great just to get away from that for a week as well."

For Kamehameha, it was a welcome break from a rigorous ILH schedule, and an all important boost of confidence for a very young team.

"It's really important for my team right now. We're so young, we're trying to figure out lineups, situations, so that (playing in the HBVI) was really good for us," said Downing. "This whole week for us only helped us get better."