Chance Guillermo, Nathan Looney and Jacob Prothero celebrate following match point of the Trojans thrilling three-set win. Spencer Honda | SL

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On the final point of game 1, Alrick Boncato went down with an apparent left knee injury that did not allow the Trojans' senior hitter to return to the match. Spencer Honda | SL

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MILILANI — Chance Guillermo put down 10 kills and Caleb Pascual nine to help No. 4 Mililani rally past No. 9 Leilehua in three sets in Oahu Interscholastic Association boys volleyball Thursday night. The scores were 18-25, 25-21 and 17-15.

The Trojans (9-0) clinched a first-round bye in the league's 12-team Division I tournament and the West's top seed, while the Mules (7-2) suffered their second three-set loss in three days.

"I told the players before the match that first place in the OIA West is on the line," Mililani coach Trent Niino said. "I said, ‘I'm not trying to pressure you, I'm not trying to make you feel like there's a lot of limelight, that's the reality of it,' and I asked these kids, are they gonna rise to the occasion? Are they gonna fight this adversity? And they rose to the occasion."

The adversity they faced wore green jerseys with yellow numerals and came out firing to start the match. The Mules never trailed in the opening set. They used a 5-1 run that included a pair of kills and a solo block by Timaye Tatupu to force Niino to burn a timeout with his team trailing, 19-13.

The Trojans earned the next four points — three kills from the left side, including two by Alrick Boncato, along with a Leilehua hitting error — to pull within 20-18. However, a Mililani service error — one of six in game 1 — was followed by a pair of service aces by Daymien Rodrigues sandwiched around a kill by David Bejer-Barro to make it 24-18.

Niino opted not to use his second timeout.

"I like to let the players play," he said. "You know, if they get in a hole, that's up to them. They gotta get themselves out of that hole and I think that it's character-building because they're going to face adversity like that in life and their backs are going to be against the wall and these kind of situations, being that it's in athletics, but in real life it's going to happen later on, so they have to figure it out for themselves. I called one timeout, but the rest of the first set I thought they could do it. I thought they were gonna be able to get out of it, that's all."

On the final point of game 1, Boncato went down with an apparent left knee injury that did not allow the Trojans' senior hitter to return to the match; he had a match-high six kills at the time of his injury. Niino said he was told by match officials that the point went to the Mules because it was determined Mililani committed a hitting error prior to the play being blown dead.

Ultimately, Leilehua closed out the opening set with a 5-0 run. It was the first time that Mililani had lost game 1 of a match this season.

"We all saw what happened and we were just like, ‘OK, we're gonna play for Alrick right here, for the rest of the game,' especially we had to win those (last) two sets for him. We were playing our hearts out just for him," Guillermo said.

Sophomore Cade Nakao came off the bench to fill in for Boncato and recorded three of his four kills in the deciding third set, including match point, when he put away a Leilehua overpass of a Pascual serve.

"It was scary when (Boncato) went down and I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit bummed, but I had faith in the rest of my players and Cade Nakao stepped up. He stepped up to the plate," said Niino, who was unsure of Boncato's status going forward after the match.

On the final point of game 1, Alrick Boncato went down with an apparent left knee injury that did not allow the Trojans' senior hitter to return to the match. Spencer Honda | SL    Purchase image

Game 2 saw 12 ties and six lead changes. The teams were knotted at 18 before the Trojans went on a 4-0 run. Guillermo slammed a cross-court kill from the left side and then Kawika Kanyuck put down a Mules' overpass on a Tory Kato serve. The Mules called their second timeout of the set, trailing 20-18, but Pascual and Kanyuck teamed up for a double-block for the next point and Guillermo put away another kill from the left side to make it 22-18.

Leilehua got to within 24-21 on a Kahoiwai kill, but Kanyuck and Pascual secured set point with another double-block to even the match at one game apiece.

Guillermo said improved passing in set 2 led to better offensive looks.

"I think we had to pick up our serve-receive, especially since the first set we had a lot of passing errors and I think when we have a good pass, our setter is able to run our offense and we're much cleaner then as well," Guillermo said.

The Mules led for much of set 3. A Tatupu solo block on Guillermo and a Davon Newman kill on a Mililani overpass gave them an 11-7 lead. However, the Trojans answered with a 5-0 run out of a timeout that included two kills apiece by Guillermo and Pascual and another by Kanyuck out of the middle.

"I thought (our middles) turned it up, both Jacob Prothero and Kawika Kanyuck, both turned it on immediately, trying to get out to the pins and shut down their main hitters (Tatupu, Rodrigues and Kahoiwai) and I thought they did an excellent job getting out there," Guillermo said.

Kanyuck and Nakao were two of the three sophomores on the floor for the Mililani (libero Cole Custodio being the other).

Leilehua staved off the first match point after a Mililani hitting error, but Nakao put one away from the left side to give his team a 15-14 lead. The teams exchanged points on under-the-net violations, which gave the Trojans another crack at match point, which culminated in Nakao's kill on the overpass.

"Cade Nakao stepped up," Niino said. "I mean, he stepped up to the plate. I said in the huddle before our second set, I said, ‘Hey, what are we going to do? Are we going to just fold? Are we going to work together as a team, or are going to fall as individuals?' One thing I go through the whole season is, I use the analogy that our whole team is a car and everybody has to be working their part in order for the car — the team — to be successful."

Niino was also pleased in the production he got from Pascual.

"One of the things with Caleb was earlier in the season he had trouble getting us points, so we started taking him out in the back row rotations and I told him, I said, ‘When you're out, you need to evaluate the game from the sidelines, get some water, wipe the sweat off your face, go in fresh,' " Niino said. "I keep telling him he needs to get us points and I think he's starting to mature as the season gets longer and he's realizing what his role is and what needs to be done for our team."

Kahoiwai had 10 kills and Tatupu and Newman added six apiece for the Mules. Tatupu, a senior hitter/setter, also had eight assists and a pair of solo blocks. Bejer-Barro, a sophomore setter/hitter had 17 assists and three kills in the loss.

Senior setter Tory Kato notched 25 assists and two kills for the Trojans, who struggled at the service line all night. They committed 13 service errors — six in game 1 — against one service ace as well as nine hitting errors.

"I felt in the first set, I think it might have been nerves, you know, Leilehua came out fighting and swinging and I think that first set was the wake-up call that they needed. They were facing hard adversity and that's what we've been trying to train them for all season long," Niino said.

Leilehua had six service errors with two aces and five hitting errors. It concludes the regular season at Waianae Tuesday.

Mililani will host Aiea that same night.