Waiakea's Kamahao Paio blocks a kill attempt by a Kalaheo attacker. Peter Caldwell | SL

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Waiakea's Keanu Esser puts up a set against Kalaheo. Peter Caldwell | SL

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Kalaheo's Kupa'a Harrison puts up a set against Waiakea. Peter Caldwell | SL

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Kalaheo's Nai'a Singlehurst attempts to put a kill attempt past the Waiakea block. Peter Caldwell | SL

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Waiakea's Kamaiu Kaaa puts down a kill attempt against Kalaheo. Peter Caldwell | SL

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Waiakea swept Kalaheo in three sets, 25-16, 25-22 and 25-23 in the opening round of the 2014 New City Nissan/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Boys Division I Volleyball State Championships at Punahou’s Hemmeter Fieldhouse on Friday night. The Warriors, from the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, move on to play top-seeded Punahou tomorrow at 3 pm while Kalaheo, from the O’ahu Interscholastic Red East, is done for the season.

Outside hitter Kamahao Paio led the way with 18 kills and seven digs, Mamane Namahoe had 13 kills and 15 digs and Dillon Rellez had nine kills, 17 assists and three service for the Warriors.

“We all know we had to come into this game and push hard and everyone had to contribute as one. We all knew this could be our last game and we came to the gym pretty early knowing we have to start off strong and we have to come out firing,” said Paio.

“They’re a good team and they were fighting hard and they’re like any other Big Island team where they come out scrappy on their defense and take swings,” said Rellez, on Kalaheo.

Waiakea jumped out to a 8-3 lead after a kill from Paio. They extended the lead to 13-5 on a 5-2 run after Naia Singlehurst hit it out and Kalaheo called a timeout. The closest Kalaheo came was six points, 16-10 after Rellez hit it out of bounds, but Waiakea extended the lead to as much as nine points, 24-15 after a Rellez kill. The Warriors won the first set, 25-16 after Namahoe and Kyle Kua-Ramirez combined for a block.

In the second set, Kalaheo jumped out to an early lead and Waiakea had to fight back. A kill from Luke Owens and Singlehurst gave the Mustangs a 4 point cushion. The Mustangs scored three straight points after Kamalu Kaaa hit it out and the Warriors called a timeout. Kalaheo went up by as much as six in the set and Kainoa Peterson’s kill made it 19-13.

Waiakea went on a 7-1 run to cut the deficit to one, 20-19 after a kill from Namahoe and Kalaheo called a timeout to talk it over. Rellez tied the game at 20 with a kill and Kamahao’s kill gave the Warriors their first lead of the set, 21-20. Kalaheo tied it at 22 after Namahoe’s kill attempt went out, but reclaimed the lead after he put in a kill to make it 23-22. Rellez had two consecutive service aces to win the set for Waiakea, 25-23.

“Well the first service ace, I had to come out swinging big because had a lot of service errors in the beginning and the second one I took it off on that one and got lucky with the roll and I thought it wasn’t going over,” said Rellez, on his two key service aces.

“They didn’t put in their big boy (Owens), it was a little bit easier to attack and our serving was on and our boys were a little bit more loose in the first set. Obviously that’s not Kalaheo’s team, they’re a stronger team than that and we took them for granted in the second set and had to battle it out and proud of the boys they were able to keep it in close enough range and make some plays down the stretch,” said Waiakea coach Ecko Osorio.

In the third set, Kalaheo jumped out to an early lead forcing Waiakea to play catch up. They took an early, 6-3 lead after a kill from Singlehurst. The Mustangs extended their lead, 15-10 after Namahoe’s hit it out and the Warriors called a timeout.

“Most of it we were defeating ourselves mentality and we were supposed to push it to the outside or the weak side than in the middle because they have a bigger blocker than we did and we started to figure it out toward the end of the game,” said Rellez.

Waiakea fought back and cut the deficit to two, 22-20 after a Namahoe kill and cut it to one after Peterson hit it out and Kalaheo called a timeout. Kua-Ramirez’s kill tied the game at 22 and Rellez’s kill took the lead, 23-22 and the Mustangs called another timeout. This was their first lead of the set since leading 1-0 in the beginning.

“The kill, I was tipping it more in the season and my coaches told me to swing away so I got more of that mentality from my coaches,” said Rellez, on the kill to take the lead.

Peterson tied the game at 23 with a kill. Namahoe’s kill made it 24-23 and Singlehurst hit it into the net to end the set and match.

“We were a little erratic for the first 15 points or so and got down to playing better and talking and making plays. In the third set, Kalaheo made some uncharacteristic errors that gave us some momentum and we knew they’re a strong offensive team and gave them opportunities to take some big swings and giving them a lead, we had to clean up our side of the net. But our boys have been used to tight games and playing Kamehameha-Hawaii and it’s usually a back-and-forth kind of game,” said Osorio.

“We knew we didn’t want to go to five sets and we wanted to end it early and prepare for tomorrow,” said Paio.

Kainoa Peterson and Naia Singlehurst had 10 kills each for the Mustangs and Kupa’a Harrison had 23 assists and 13 digs, and Sheldon Dolan had 10 digs.