OIA Boys Volleyball
Knights get bounce-back win with road sweep of Red Raiders


  



Thu, Mar 17, 2022 @ Kahuku [ 6:00 pm ]


FINAL  1   2   3   4   5      
CAST (11-6) 25 25 25 - - 3
KAH (6-5) 16 15 15 - - 0

KAHUKU — Four different players recorded at least five kills and visiting Castle logged a dozen service aces en route to a workmanlike sweep of host Kahuku in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Eastern Division boys volleyball match Thursday night. 

Tynoah Ehia registered a match-high eight kills, Malae Tini and Shane Aleki tallied seven apiece and Austin Minami added five to lead the Knights (1-1) to a 25-16, 25-15, 25-15 win over the Red Raiders (2-1). 

After a bit of back-and-forth early on in the match, Castle took over midway through the opening set and never looked back. 

"I think we just had to settle down and find our comfort on the court and then go from there," Knights co-coach George Ehia said. 

Sophomore setter Cody Pili-Rumusod distributed 23 assists to help Castle bounce back from Tuesday's season-opening four-set loss against perennial league powerhouse Moanalua. 

"We expect them to play well and I think on Tuesday we were really looking forward to beating Moanalua, but I think it was our first game since COVID shutdown and everything and they were pretty nervous about just playing the game, but we think that we have a good team so we kind of expected this of them, but we try not to put too much pressure on them," said Castle co-coach Pat Gomes-Woolsey. 

The score was tied at 11 in set 1, but the Knights separated with an 8-2 that included three service aces — two of them by Minami — to take a 19-13 lead. Kahuku scored three of the next four points to pull within 20-16, but Castle closed out the set with a 5-0 run that included three Red Raider attack errors. 

The hosts had three of their five team blocks in set 1, but the Knights' hitters made their adjustments at the net early on. 

"We just told our hitters to take their time, see the court a little bit more and place their shots a little bit better," George Ehia said. 

Minami helped the Knights seize control in set 2 with back-to-back-to-back points off of his kill from the right side off an assist from Pili-Rumusod, followed by consecutive aces to ignite a 10-2 Castle run; Eric Ehara's ace capped the run and gave his team a 14-6 cushion. 

Later in set 2, Aleki went down the line with his fourth kill of the set to stretch the Castle lead to 23-13. Pili-Rumusod and Noah Kaneshiro-Pate then combined for a double block on an Kahuku attack to give their team set point. After back-to-back points for the Red Raiders, Pili-Rumusod went to Kaneshiro-Pate in the middle for a quick set and kill to close out set 2, 25-15. 

The third set was more of the same as the Knights used an early 6-0 run — capped by back-to-back aces by Kaneshiro-Pate — to jump out to an 8-3 lead. Kahuku got to within 12-9, but Castle answered with a 10-1 run to take a commanding 22-10 lead. Minami finished things off on match point with his attack off the block and out. 

George Ehia credited his passers, most notably Ehara, the Knights' libero, for their work in the back row. 

"They stabilized things for us," he said. "Once they settled down back there, we were OK."

Tynoah Ehia and Minami are two of the five seniors on the team this season and provide steady, but quiet leadership as the Knights' pin hitters opposite one another. 

"Yeah, they do," George Ehia said. "They've been in the program for a year, so they kind of bring support and they kind of guide the way for the younger guys to kind of kick them in gear, as far as what's happening on the court. We're telling them every day, ‘You guys gotta talk,' but they kind of lead by example and do what they need to do out there on the court."

Coach Ehia also praised the play of Pili-Rumusod, who had two kills, one ace and a block assist in addition to his nearly-two dozen set assists. 

"He did an awesome job. He wants to hit, but we want him to set because that's his strength and for us we just need someone to be stable with the ball and move it around as fast as he does, so he's doing great," Ehia said. 

Minami posted four aces, Ehara three and Aleki and Kaneshiro-Pate added two apiece for the Knights. 

"Actually that's our forte," George Ehia said of his team's tough serving. "We try to make them serve tough every single day because that's what it boils down to, right, the serve-and-pass game, so I think for them to be successful from the line, it'll get a lot of teams out of system and make it a little easier for us."

George Ehia said that it was important for the Knights to rebound from the loss to Moanalua Tuesday. 

"Oh, big time important," he affirmed. "I know for the boys to open up against Moanalua can make or break your season, so we really enforced them to just focus on the little things and then the big things will happen, but we wanted to be successful tonight because it's hard to start a season oh-and-two."

The Knights were able to take the opening set off of Na Menehune, but dropped the next three. Nonetheless, the result gave Ehia's team something to build off of going forward. 

"A lot of momentum, yes. The boys finally realized, ‘Hey, we're here, we can play the game and compete,' so I think it was a big motivational booster for them, if anything," he said. 

Kaelo Kalani led Kahuku with six kills and Denzon Seui-Sika added three kills and four block assists in the loss. 

The Red Raiders did not drop a set in either of their first two matches to start OIA East play prior to Thursday night. They committed nine of their 17 attack errors in the opening set against Castle, which totaled 10 attack errors by comparison. 

Both teams return to action Tuesday night. Kahuku will visit Kaimuki (0-2) at 5 p.m., while Castle will host Farrington (1-2) at 6 p.m.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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