Baseball
Schools
Schedules
Standings
Stats
Players
Softball
Boys VB
JV boys VB
Girls Water Polo
» Football
» Girls Volleyball
» JV Football
» JV/White Girls Vball
» Baseball
» Softball
» Boys Volleyball
» Girls Water Polo
» JV Boys Volleyball
» Boys Basketball
» Girls Basketball
» Boys Soccer
» Girls Soccer
» JV Boys Basketball
» JV Girls Basketball
» JV Boys Soccer
» JV Girls Soccer
All-Hawaii
Power Rankings
Distinguished Athlete
Newcomer Award
Top Performers
Stories
About SL
Contact
Privacy
Advertise
Kalani Takase | ScoringLiveOctober 18, 2018, 11:29pm
Thu, Oct 18, 2018 @ Iolani [ 5:30 pm ]
Keonilei Akana had 20 kills, Malie McClure 16 and Kalina Obrey 10 to lead top-ranked Kamehameha to its third consecutive Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I girls volleyball championship with a thrilling five-set win over No. 2 Iolani Thursday night.
The scores were 24-26, 25-21, 18-25, 25-19 and 15-13.
A crowd of about 400 fans at Iolani's lower gym saw the Warriors improve to 12-1 and rebound from a five-set loss to the Raiders Tuesday. They also clinched a first-round bye in next week's New City Nissan State Championships. They will open the tournament with Thursday's quarterfinal round.
"It feels great. We've been working so hard these past couple weeks, so just knowing that we can just finish through and end game, it's great," said Akana, a junior outside hitter/opposite.
It was the sixth meeting between the teams this season and twice in a span of three days. Kamehameha won the first four matches before Iolani captured's Tuesday's face off to force another meeting.
"We know we're going to get Iolani's best match — actually we know we're going to get everybody's best match when we play them. We've seen each other a lot, more than often just because of the way the schedule works, but we're definitely going to relish this," Warriors coach Chris Blake said of his ninth league crown. "We had to fight really hard and it's because of the effort of our team and our preparation that we were able to pull out that win."
The teams traded the first four sets before going to a deciding game 5, which saw nine ties and five lead changes.
Sisters Keonilei and Braelyn Akana combined for a double-block on a swing by Iolani's Mokihana Tufono to give their team a 7-5 lead and force the Raiders to call their first timeout. Iolani scored four of the next five points, capped by Tufono's service ace, to pull ahead, 9-8, but Keonilei Akana sandwiched a pair of kills from the left side around a double-block with Kalina Obrey to reclaim the lead for Kamehameha at 11-9.
"I just told (setter Lexis Akeo) to keep setting me. I mean, I told her that I'm ready and I'm ready to kill it and go for it," Keonilei Akana said.
The Warriors held a 13-10 advantage after another Keonilei Akana kill — this time from the right side on a cross-court shot — but the Elena Oglivie put one down from the left side just inside the back line and back-to-back Kamehameha attacks went long to tie it at 13.
Blake called timeouts with his team leading 13-12 and one play later, with the score knotted.
Out of the second Kamehameha timeout, Akeo went to Obrey in the middle, but she was dug by Tufono and the rally continued. Akeo went right back to Obrey, who was able to find the floor along the left side to give her team championship point.
The Warriors closed it out one play later, when Paris Oliveira's serve led to an Iolani overpass that Malie McClure slammed down to ignite the celebration.
"I think, for us, one of our strengths and keys is versatility. Lexis did a great job of distributing, (Keonilei) did a lot of work on that, Kalina got a lot of big plays. When we were chasing out to get 14, she got double set twice and got up on that second one and teed off on it and again, having that type of leadership, having that type of trust, not only in your team's ability, but your ability, will carry us on, hopefully, throughout the state tournament," Blake said.
Elena Oglivie put down a match-high 21 kills and Kristen McDaniel posted 41 assists to lead the Raiders, who fell to 9-5 and will be the ILH's second state-tournament representative.
"It's just fun to play in these types of matches," Raiders coach Keoni Obrey said. "I'm proud of the way our kids have grown throughout the season. I think we're definitely moving in the right direction at the right time. I like the way we're playing moving into next week, for sure, but again, Kamehameha is good. They're coached up really well and their kids made some plays at the end to kind of finish it up for them."
The Raiders took game 1, 26-24, behind Oglivie's eight kills in the set, but the Warriors answered with a 4-1 run to close out game 2, 25-21.
Iolani erased a 15-13 deficit in game 3 with a 12-3 run to win it, 25-18. However, Kamehameha finished game 4 on a 6-1 run to take it, 25-19, and even the match at two sets apiece.
Blake credited the play of Oliviera, who came up with numerous big defensive plays in transition. The senior libero missed a large portion of the season due to an injury.
"Her resilience was very, very important because she stuck with it and she was trying so hard to get back and when she finally came back and helped us solidify our overall team defense, it did great things for us," Blake said. "Although she had a lot of digs tonight, one of the things that may not show up in the stats is the way she keeps our defense together; she did an excellent job on that. She does the little things to make the big things happen."
Akeo, the reigning All-Hawaii Player of the Year, recorded 47 assists in the win.
The Warriors committed 24 hitting errors and seven service errors to the Raiders' 20 hitting errors and 12 service errors.
Iolani posted nine team blocks to Kamehameha's 8 1/2.
A Raiders' win Thursday would have forced a rematch Friday at Kamehameha's Kekuhaupio Gym for the overall ILH crown.
All five of Iolani's losses this season have come against the Warriors.
The state tournament bracket was released early Friday morning. Iolani will host Kapolei in a state first-round match Monday. Defending champion Kamehameha drew the top seed and will play the Kamehameha-Maui—Moanalua winner in a 7 p.m. quarterfinal Thursday at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium.
Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.
Please consider making a contribution today.
ADVERTISEMENT
Bob Manintin pitched six strong innings as the Warriors snapped the Red Raiders' seven-game winning streak.
Teizsha Kaopuiki hit two home runs to power the Seariders in the opening round of the OIA Division I...
Ninth-ranked Kailua scored 10 unanswered runs behind six scoreless innings of relief from DJ Kauahi to...
The Chargers rapped out nine runs on 14 hits, capped by Jayson Au Hoy's three-run home run in the top...
The Kaiser junior centerfielder made a pivotal highlight-reel grab against Kailua Saturday, while the...
Ismael Diaz delivered a pair of two-RBI doubles as part of a 29-minute top of the first inning for the...
