OIA Boys Volleyball
Rams make history at Alegre Gymnasium


  



Wed, Apr 26, 2023 @ Radford [ 5:30 pm ]


FINAL  1   2   3   4   5      
RAD (11-4) 25 25 25 - - 3
AIEA (9-7) 14 20 18 - - 0
Kill: K. Kaneakua (RAD) 11 kills
Blk: R. Dilks (RAD) 4 blk
Ast: R. Dilks (RAD) 24 ast

ALIAMANU — History was made at Jim Alegre Gymnasium Wednesday night.

The Radford Rams captured their first OIA boys volleyball championship with a 25-14, 25-20, 25-18 win over Aiea on their home court in the league's Division II title match.

Radford had a rocky start to the season with three straight losses, but it banded together and rattled off nine consecutive wins before taking the crown.

"It definitely took a lot to turn that around," said Radford coach Melanie Toloumu. "We started off with the three strongest teams in the West, but I feel like my message after those three losses was 'we can't let them be in vain, we have to learn from it,' and so they picked it up and kept working. They're definitely a great group of kids and they want to learn and they love the game."

The Rams (9-3) were also bolstered by the addition of sophomore Keahi Kaneakua, who helped Pearl City win league and state titles in D2 last season. Kaneakua had a double-double of 11 kills and 13 assists with five digs, three aces and two blocks to lead Radford in the match.

"He can play anywhere," Toloumu said of Kaneakua. "He's a very humble player so I think he fits in with the team really well."

Radford's Keahi Kaneakua puts up a set as one of the Rams' 6-2 setters. CJ Caraang | SL    Purchase image

Isaac Guerrero followed with nine kills and 11 digs and Robert Dilks posted a stat line of 24 assists, six kills, five digs, four blocks and two aces. Brady Ryder and Kainalu Shiraishi each had five kills apiece to round out the top attackers for the Rams.

Aiea (8-5) was without its top attacker in Fidelis Mauigoa (hand injury). Marcus Tauanuu led Na Alii in the loss with seven kills and seven digs.

"I know one of their main hitters wasn't in so I think that definitely contributed to us having to adjust to a new lineup that they were running and I felt like we were trying our best to adjust along the way," Toloumu said of Aiea. "They have a lot of talented players that play smart and they hustle."

The Rams set the tone early from the service line. They tallied three of their seven total aces before the TV timeout in the opening set when they led 13-6.

"Every practice no matter what, serve and serve receive," said Dilks. "It's what we start with and it's our basis that we pride ourselves on. From where our serve are now to where they were at the beginning of the season, just amazing."

Radford also made adjustments to its attack and utilize the Aiea block to its favor as the Rams got multiple kills that went off a Na Alii blocker.

"At the beginning of the season, (our block) were getting tooled a lot, so we worked on tooling (the block) in the games and in practice and that just translated over," said Dilks. "We just went for their hands, that's all we did."

Both teams are qualified for the New City Nissan Boys Volleyball Championships, with the D2 eight-team tournament starting on May 10.



Reach Michael Lasquero at [email protected].




Show your support

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


IMAGE GALLERY



MORE STORIES

Roosevelt overcomes rough first half to rally past Kalaheo

Taimane Souza-Fautanu threw a touchdown pass and ran for two other scores to help the Rough Riders turn...

Stephens balling out for Marauders; Kirkham leading leveling up of Na Pueo

The senior WR had four touchdown receptions in Waipahu's win over Waianae Friday, the same night that...

Maui pulls away from Baldwin to pick up first win

Ofa Falekaono was one of three Sabers with a rush TD and his pick-six in the fourth sparked Maui to their...

Kahuku stuns nationally-ranked St. John Bosco with late touchdown

Tuli Tagovailoa-Amosa ran for an 18-yard touchdown with 23 seconds left to help the Red Raiders rally...

No. 4 Campbell overcomes early deficit to stun second-ranked Punahou

Jaron Sagapolutele led the way as the Sabers scored 24 unanswered in the third quarter to pull away from...

Kamehameha-Maui rallies past No. 15 King Kekaulike to remain unbeaten

The Warriors rallied in the fourth quarter to remain unbeaten and hand Na Alii their first loss of the...