Kamaluhia Garcia led all hitters with 17 kills and added a block and 11 digs in Na Menehune's win over the Warriors. Peter Caldwell | SL

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SALT LAKE — On to the next. 

Outside hitter Kamaluhia Garcia put down a match-high 17 kills and libero Zoe Slaughter recorded 22 digs to help No. 5 Moanalua sweep Kamehameha-Hawaii in a quarterfinal match of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Division I State Championships on Thursday. The set scores were 25-17, 25-22 and 28-26. 

Before a crowd of a few hundred on their home court, Na Menehune (14-1) handed the Warriors (7-1) their first loss to advance to Friday's semifinal round, where they will take on top-ranked Punahou, the No. 1 seed in the tournament. 

Moanalua was playing its second match at states as it was swept Kaiser in Monday's play-in round. It was also its second match since its lone defeat this season: a four-set loss to Kahuku in last week's OIA final. 

"Something that we focused in on when we lost to Kahuku, we wanted to make sure that whenever something happened we needed to execute and in the most crucial moments they were executing," Na Menehune coach Alan Cabanting said. 

Cabanting praised the effort he saw from an overmatched — and undersized — Kamehameha-Hawaii team. 

"They're definitely well coached," he said of the BIIF champs. "They made us do things that we're not used to, but that's pretty much what we learned from that Kahuku match when we lost the OIAs."

Garcia, a 6-foot sophomore, also tallied double-digit digs with 11. Senior outside hitter Kelia Giusta registered a double-double (12 kills, 12 digs), as did senior setter Alexis Iramina (31 assists, 14 digs). 

Garcia and Giusta, who stands 5 feet, 11 inches tall, are just two of the 10 Menes listed as 5-10 or taller on the team roster. That translated to a one-sided blocking total (Moanalua had seven team blocks to zero for Kamehameha-Hawaii) and a lot of altered attacks for the Warriors. 

"Oh, definitely," Kamehameha-Hawaii coach Guy Enriques agreed. "At the beginning hitters were tentative. They were trying to avoid the block so much they kept making mistakes, but they settled in and it was tight, but we blew a couple assignments and you can't do that when you're real close. We lost our hitter (Garcia) and she got a free swing a couple times right there at the end and that cost us; we gotta be sharp when it's neck-and-neck."

After Moanalua took the first two sets, it went back-and-forth with the Warriors for much of game 3. There were 12 ties in the third set alone. 

Back-to-back attack errors by Giusta gave Kamehameha-Hawaii a couple of points and tied the score at 23. After Cabanting called his second timeout of the set, Giusta's tip from the right side found the floor to give her team the lead — briefly anyway. 

"I thought because she (Giusta) was on the outside and she was struggling to put balls away with the two blockers on her, moving her to the opposite — just a different look — and, of course, she does that little tip over the block really well on that side, so I think she's a little bit more comfortable under pressure on the right side," Cabanting explained. 

Another Menes attack error — their ninth of game 3 — gave the Warriors a point to even the sore at 24. However, Iramina came up clutch with a back set over the net on the second touch that found an open spot on the floor. That put the Buffanblu back ahead 25-24. 

Enriques took ownership of the defense on Iramina's gutsy kill. 

"We watched them and it was my fault, I forgot. Normally I remind the girls of that one play — because we watched them enough and I knew she was gonna do it," He said. "Given that situation I just forgot to remind the kids."

But the Warriors dug deep for back-to-back points on kills by Taina Kaauwai and Maela Honma, respectively, to pull ahead, 26-25. 

Moanalua turned to Garcia, whose kill from the right side tied the score. She then put down another kill from the left side — off a bump set from Slaughter — to set-up match point. 

On match point Slaughter made a spectacular sprawling dig to deny Kamehameha-Hawaii a chance to tie it once more. Instead, it led eventually to a double-block by Hokulani Perez and Leilani Giusta — the third time that the pair teamed up for a roof in the match — to end it. 

Enriques said that Slaughter's defensive prowess was a pivotal part of Moanalua's ability to close out the third set. 

"She saved a lot of good balls. I mean, that's what I thought saved them at the end. I thought we had good momentum, but every time we made a great play, she made one better," Enriques said of 5-foot-8 senior and Auburn University signee.

Cabanting acknowledged Slaughter's ability to clutch-up, especially as of late. 

"She's been digging well since the Kahuku match. I think during the Kahuku match she kind of solidified herself as far as being able to dig balls regardless of who the hitters are and so in the most crucial moment she got a dig for us."

Moanalua jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the opening set. It got four kills from Garcia that was part of a 7-1 run that extended its lead to 20-11 and eventually closed it out with a kill by Kelia Giusta, 25-17. 

It went on an 11-2 run early in the set 2 and took a 12-4 lead. However, Kamehameha-Hawaii scored 10 of the next 12 points and tied it at 14 with a kill by Kaauwai. 

The score remained it at 20, but Moanalua edged ahead with Jerney Tang-Silva's lone kill, which ignited a 5-2 run to close out the set. Garcia's kill out of the middle gave her team set point and Perez finished it off with a kill off an assist from Iranian. 

Enriques was proud of the effort he got from his players, who were playing in just their eighth match of the season. 

"They played hard all the way. They were just a little bit — I don't want to say just because we had seven matches — but still being in this arena, states, cameras — they were a little shy," he said. "At the beginning they were real tentative and we had a hard time connecting with our middles, which usually is our strength."

He noted that by the time his team had gotten comfortable and settled down, it was too late. 

"They tried to find a groove, but Moanalua earned it. They controlled us all three sets. They were able to pass better. They were able to run more things and they were just the better team tonight," Enriques said. "They earned it. It's really on us so we gotta suck it up."

Honma led Kamehameha-Hawaii with 13 kills and 22 digs. Lesley Kelii tallied 15 digs, Tabitha Pacheco 14 and Cammie Masanda 13. Kaauwai posted eight kills, but Sarah Schubert chipped in with seven digs. 

The Warriors, who are seeded fourth and had a first-round bye, will look to rebound when they take on No. 10 Mililani in a 5 p.m. consolation match at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium. 

First serve between Na Menehune and the Buffanblu is scheduled for approximately 7 p.m. at Moanalua Friday. That match will follow a 5 p.m. semifinal between No. 2 Kamehameha and No. 4 Kahuku.

Peter Caldwell | SL    Purchase image

Top-ranked Punahou pulls away from No. 10 Mililani

University of Hawaii-bound setter Jaclyn Matias tallied 28 assists, 15 digs, four aces, three kills and three total blocks to lead Punahou to a 25-16, 25-20 and 25-21 sweep of Mililani in Thursday's late quarterfinal at Moanalua. 

The Buffanblu (11-2) are the tournament's top seed and were playing their first match in nearly three weeks after a first-round bye Monday.

The Trojans (12-3) were playing their second match in as many days as it was coming off of a sweep at Kamehameha-Monday on Wednesday. That match was originally slated for Monday, but was postponed due to the inclement weather that hit many parts of the state with heavy rains and even flooding. 

Aria Miller had nine kills, five digs and an ace for Mililani, which got eight kills and 12 digs fo Jaelyn Tang, in addition to 28 assists, nine digs and three kills sophomore setter Anae Asuncion. Junior libero LC-Reece Nakagawa tallied a match-high 23 digs in the loss. 

Lucky-Rose Williams posted eight kills, 10 digs, four blocks and two aces. Belle Iosua and Haumea Marumoto contributed seven kills each and Grace Fiaseu six. Melie Vaioleti had 11 digs and Lulu Uluave and Sammy Okano contributed 10 digs apiece in the win. 

Punahou had nine total team blocks to just two for Mililani.