Moanalua's Luuga Vailuu, right, attempts to get a kill past a pair of KS-Hawaii blockers. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Evan Enriques (center) attempts to make a kill past a pair of Moanalua blockers. Sylvia Lee | SL

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The old adage goes: “when there’s a will, there’s a way.” That statement could never be truer for the Kamehameha-Hawaii Warriors as they rode the biggest will on the court to victory Friday night.

Kamehameha-Hawaii senior Evan Enriques put down a match-high 40 kills to lead the Warriors in a thrilling five-set win over Moanalua, 24-26, 25-23, 18-25, 25-23, 16-14, in front of a crowd of about 650 in the semifinal round of the 2014 New City Nissan/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Boys Volleyball Championships at McKinley’s Student Council Gymnasium. The Warriors move on to the championship game to take on two-time defending champion Punahou. 

“He scores points, but his leadership is incredible,” said father and Kamehameha-Hawaii coach Guy Enriques. “He settles the guys when they have problems. He’s able to stay mentality tough even though his teammates are making mistakes. You don’t see a player like that too often.”

“You can’t say anything more about him,” added Moanalua coach Alan Cabanting. “Two to three years ago, he singlehandedly took his team to state tournament. This year again, they rode him in every single play. Amazing kid and an amazing player.”

Kamehameha-Hawaii, the Division I Big Island Interscholastc League of Honolulu champion and third-seeded team, made its way into the semifinal round with a four-set win over Kamehameha-Kapalama six days ago. On the other hand, Oahu Interscholastic Association Red Division champion Moanalua easily swept Baldwin in its quarterfinal contest.

Coach Enriques says his team’s road to the semifinals was a factor in their victory over Na Menehune. 

“Coming through being seeded third, having to play Waiakea, Kapalama, all those games being tough on the schedule, I think that was our edge in having to play a tough match tonight. We got over Waiakea, good team. We got over Kapalama good team; that I think was the edge. 

“Moanalua had two easy matches, one easy match, they weren’t really challenged, so I think that was our edge. We were prepared to be in a battle like this and that was the difference I think.”

Other than their differences in prior opponents, the two teams were nearly equal in terms of talent level – which was evident with the need to go into extras in the opening set.  Neither team seemed to have a legitimate grasp early on the match as the two teams split the first two sets.

Momentum started to swing in Moanalua’s favor during the third set as its front line went from hot to blazing. Na Menehune opened up the set on a 6-1. The early lead then blossomed to a 15-8 game thanks to a couple of blocks from Karson Cruz, and eventually into a 25-18 set three win for Na Menehune.

Moanalua continued to ride its momentum into the penultimate set and looked primed to take the match in four, especially after taking a 20-14 lead. Unfortunately for Na Menehune, the Warriors stuck with it and clawed their way back with a 7-1 run to make it 21-all. Moanalua also didn’t do itself any favors as they committed four errors during this stretch. 

“I think for the most part, it came down to the mental toughness that we were working on during the season,” explained Cabanting. “It just didn’t work for us today. The experience for couple of the guys who haven’t been in this situation before, it showed out there.” 

While Na Menehune struggled to put the game away good, Kamehameha-Hawaii took advantage the Warriors may have bended a little bit during the night – having to sit players dealing with emotions during the match – they never broke and was able to pull together and extend the match to five sets. 

“We just got to do what we do,” said Evan Enriques. “A lot of times in tough situations, teams tend to do stuff that they’re not really used to doing. They kind of panic a little. You just got to tell your teammates to be steady.”

Having gone through fire and with momentum on their side, the Warriors were able to claim the fifth and final set, 16-14.

“I’m just excited and pleased for my team,” said Coach Enriques after the game. “They dug down deep tonight. They struggled, but they believed in each other. They had each other in the back, I can’t be more proud of these guys. We got lucky in the end, to come back from that far down, someone’s looking out for us.” 

Na Menehune’s diversified attack finished with 61 total kills and 18 blocks. Moanalua setter Skylan Engleman was his usual self, scattering around 55 assists to six different hitters. Luuga Vailuu and Austin Matautia had 18 and 17 kills respectively to lead the Moanalua attack.