ILH Boys Volleyball
Kamehameha rallies from 0-2 set deficit to take down Iolani


ScoringLive staff
March 10, 2022, 11:05pm

  


Thu, Mar 10, 2022 @ Iolani [ 6:00 pm ]

Kamehameha

3

Iolani

2

FINAL  1   2   3   4   5      
KSK (11-7) 20 19 27 25 15 3
IOL (9-6) 25 25 25 18 10 2
Kill: S. Nakao (IOL) 16 kills
Blk: M. Matsuda (IOL) 6 blk
Ast: A. Miller (KSK) 45 ast

Kamehameha rallied back from a two sets to none deficit, escaping with a 20-25, 19-25, 27-25, 25-18, 15-10 victory over Iolani, improving to 2-0 on the season.

"This was huge, but just the next step in our journey," said Warriors' setter Ayja Miller.

The do-or-die set five saw Kamehameha jump out to an early 5-1 advantage, one that Iolani never recovered from. The Raiders closed to within four points on a Matthew Fujikami kill at 14-10, but the Warriors put the game away on the next point as Joseph Akeo and Laiakeaoaloaliilani Hirahara teamed up for match clinching block.

"We just needed to work together, calm down," said Miller of the fifth set clincher. "We needed to find the right lineup to put it away."

In sets one and two, Kamehameha kept pace with Iolani throughout, but faltered down the stretch in both. In set one, the Warriors tied the score at 20-all, only to surrender the final five points of the set, highlighted by a pair of blocks by Mason Matsuda, assisted by Shaun Nakao and Casey Lyons.

Set two was a near carbon copy of the first, with Kamehameha closing to 19-18 on a Johnson Hookano-Pelekai kill, only to be outpointed 6-1 the rest of the way.

The third set featured the most drama, as the Warriors looked all but primed to force a fourth set at 23-20, before Iolani closed the gap on kills by Lyons and Keegan Martyn, then tied and took the lead on back-to-back stuffs by Raynne Passi and Kili Racoma.

"I gotta give credit to my team, we've worked hard all week on defense, but I also give credit to Iolani man, they have great defense (too) and they really made us work for it," remarked Miller.

Ultimately, the Warriors held off the Raiders in the third, getting to set point on an Iolani miscue on serve-receive and then taking the set a point later when an outside attack by Iolani went into the net.

The fourth set saw Iolani lead in the first half, before Kamehameha took control on a Kanoaikekai Monlux kill at 17-15. The lead slowly ballooned to 22-18, before Austin Sanchez closed out the fourth on the service line, with two of his game-high three aces.

"We put all our trust in him and he serves tough back there every single time," said Miller.

Miller registered a match-high 45 assists, and added a block as well as a key kill on a dump shot that put the Warriors up six points at 11-5 in the fifth.

"I didn't expect to be in the positon but I made the most of it," said Miller. "I saw the opening so I took advantage of it."

Monlux led the Warriors with 14 kills and Hookano-Pelekai added 11. Four other Kamehameha hitters notched at least five kills in the match.

"I put my trust in all my guys, I know all of them can put it down," beamed Miller.

Iolani was led by Nakao with 16 kills, Lyons with 15 and Martyn with 10. The Raiders outblocked the Warriors 16 to 10, led my Matsuda's six total blocks.

The two teams will face each other again in league play on Mar 29 at Kamehameha.




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