Moanalua players celebrate after a five-set victory over Kamehameha in the HHSAA Division I quarterfinals. Peter Caldwell | SL

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SALT LAKE— Austin Matautia's monster game helped propel Moanalua past Kamehameha-Kapalama in a five set thriller, 22-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-19, 15-10 in the quarterfinals of the New City Nissan/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Volleyball State Championships on Saturday night at Moanalua High School.

The Oahu Interscholastic Association champions will advance to the semifinals to play second-seeded and Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion, Kamehameha-Hawaii on May 15 at 7 p.m. at Moanalua. The Warriors, who swept Waipahu in the first round, ends their season.

"Credit to Kapalama, they were digging a ton of balls and that's the kind of game the Big Island will bring to us so I think it's a great way for us to dig deep and continue to play and no matter what's going on the court," said Moanalua coach Alan Cabanting.

Matautia had a game-high 35 kills and had 13 digs, Zach Kagehiro added 36 assists, three aces, and Noah Marasco-Ayau added 27 assists. Karson Cruz chipped in 17 kills and Seyj Engleman added 12. Gabriel Garrison led the team in digs with 15.

"It wouldn't be possible without our two middles. At the beginning of the game they didn't have the presence as they did later in the game, but without them, I wouldn't be able to do what I do," said Matautia. "One of the game plans is to spread it out. It's based on who's hot and it helps because we have so many options and we can put away balls from all sides of the court."

In the final set, it went back and forth early until Moanalua took a 11-7 lead after Seyj Engleman's kill. Kamehameha scored two straight points, but Moanalua managed to push the lead back up to 13-9 forcing Kamehameha to call a timeout. The Na Menehune closed it out on Karson Cruz's kill and Kamehameha's Kahiau Machado couldn't knock in the attack that sealed the game.

"The game plan for us in the fifth set was to open up the outside, I'm a big presence in the middle, it helped open it up for the outside and kept the middle honest with us," said Cruz, who had four of his 17 kills in the set.

"Every single guy that we expected to make plays, made plays. When we needed guys to make plays, they were making them and we were talking about one play at a time and they played with heart. No matter what was going on or happening, they played together and played as a team," said Cabanting.

Kahiau Machado led Kamehameha with 23 kills and 21 digs, Naone Cannon added 10 kills, Kamoku Panee contributed 30 assists and Elijah Hew Len added 20 assists.

Moanalua jumped out to an early 14-8 lead, but Kamehameha battled back using a 6-0 run to tie the game at 14 after Machado's kill. There were five ties late in the set before Kamehameha scored the last three points to take it, 25-22.

The Na Menehune jumped out on the Warriors to take a 9-4 lead before Kamehameha called a timeout. Moanalua pushed it to seven before Kamehameha came back late, but Matautia's consecutive kills sealed the second set for the Na Menehune.

Similar to the first set, Kamehameha and Moanalua traded blows and Moanalua took a brief 23-22 lead, but the Warriors separated from the Na Menehune after capitalizing on Matautia's attack errors and Naone Cannon placed a kill late to claim the third set, 25-23.

"It's that part of the game where you don't get the calls you want and the crowd was big, but they stuck together and played as a team and understood their deficiencies and strengths," said Cabanting.

"When we lost the third set, I talked to guys about picking up the energy and said we didn't come here just for nothing," said Cruz.

Moanalua came back with a vengeance to get off to a quick start and kept the Warriors at bay late in the set holding a six point lead. Again, Matautia came in the clutch to place kills to tie the sets at two apiece and forcing a fifth and decisive set.

Last year, KS-Hawaii outlasted Moanalua in five sets in the semifinals to advance to the title game. The Na Menehune look to change that as they come back to play in front of their fans on Friday night.

"It helped with all these people coming out and when we had our downs, the crowd brought us back. Our team is a family. Kamehameha-Hawaii is a great team and we played them several times this season. It's going to come down to who makes the most plays," said Matautia.