Kamehameha-Hawaii's Evan Enriques scored over Moanalua's Zarin Augustiro during the third set of their state semifinal volleyball match.

 
HONOLULU, Hawaii - Evan Enriques cranked 31 kills in a whopping 98 attempts as Kamehameha-Hawaii knocked out Moanalua 25-16, 27-29, 25-18, 23-25, 15-10 in a thriller of a semifinal match at McKinley Student Council Gym on Friday night.

The win advanced KS-Hawaii (18-0) into tonight's final against powerhouse Punahou at Blaisdell Arena. Starcomm Sport Radio will carry this game "LIVE" online at www.starcommsportsradio.com with Felipe Ojastro calling the action.

Enriques, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter and the coach's son, never seemed to tire, not during long rallies, or as Moanalua served him over and over.

"We try to feed the horse, but not starve the ponies," said coach Guy Enriques. "Everybody understands their roles. Evan gets 70 to 90 sets a match. We ride him."

The sophomore also had a team-high 20 digs.

"Yeah, I'm tired. But we've been working on that all season, the relationships we have. Our middles opened it up for me," he said. "Our passes weren't as great as yesterday, but credit our setter, Daniel Aina. He did a great job. Moanalua's really scrappy."

The Warriors trailed 2-0 in the final set, but got a timely ace from Ryan Thomas to take a 5-4 lead. Moanalua stayed close but never regained the lead or tied it again. Coach Alan Cabanting's squad got within 11-10 on a kill by Ahren DePonte, but KS-Hawaii scored the final four points, including two errors and a mis-hit by DePonte that was ruled out of bounds to the chagrin of Cabanting.

Unlike their quarterfinal win over Kamehameha (Kapalama), the Warriors had less of a balanced offensive attack, but had a tenacious defensive effort. D.J. Grant-Johnson had 17 digs to go with six kills. Aina had 42 assists and hustled for 11 digs, and libero Ryan Thomas finished with 15 digs.

"I'm elated. The kids dug themselves out of a hole," coach Enriques said. "It's gonna be a good sleep tonight."

Moanalua's explosive attack included 19 kills by Joshua Buted, 17 by Ahren DePonte and 14 by Nalu Tagalicod-Molina. Setter Zarin Augustiro dished out 52 assists and senior libero Kolby Kanetake came up with 22 digs. Buted added 18 digs for Moanalua, which suffered its first loss after 16 league and state-tourney wins.

Now mighty Punahou, the defending state champion, awaits the Warriors.

"We haven't been in the final since '06," Evan Enriques said. "This is a great honor. Punahou's a solid team. You can't ask for a better team to play for the title. How often do you see a Big Island team in the state finals?"

Punahou 3, Kalaheo 0

Even with setter Micah Ma‘a's left hand heavily taped, nothing seems to slow the Punahou Buffanblu.

The top-seeded team in the New City Nissan/HHSAA Boys Volleyball State Championships got 13 kills from Sean Gruebner in a 25-15, 25-23, 25-19 sweep of Kalaheo Friday night in the semifinal round.

A crowd of about 400 at McKinley Student Council Gym saw Punahou (17-0) lose momentum occasionally, but the Buffanblu had too much balance, passing and defense for the young Mustangs.

Kupono Fey, a 6-foot-5 opposite, hammered nine kills and five aces. Nicholas Andrews, a 6-6 middle, had seven kills, and sophomore Larry Tuileta had 10 kills and shared team-high honors with six digs. He also had two blocks.

Libero Colin Peros hustled for six digs against the Mustangs.

The Buffanblu persevered through the ups and downs of Ma‘a, who injured the hand two weeks ago. Ma‘a wouldn't share details of how he got hurt, but Tuileta alluded that it had much to do with his teammate's relative youth.

"My teammates help me through," Ma‘a said.

Coach Rick Tune was more than satisfied with the freshman.

"He set a great match, for a freshman to respond that well (to the injury)," Tune said.

Nainoa Frank, a 6-6 junior, led Kalaheo (14-4) with 15 kills. Reeve Troberg, a 6-2 junior, added seven kills. Sheldon Dolan had six digs and Jordyn Reindollar added five for the OIA runner-up. Kalaheo has one senior on the roster.

OTHER GAMES

FIFTH-PLACE PLAYOFFS

Waiakea def. King Kekaulike 25-22, 25-21, 24-26, 21-25, 7-3. Leaders—Waiakea: Mamane Namahoe 23 kills, Mano Thomson 54 assists. KK: Victor Ragland 12 kills, John Eddins 35 assists.

Kamehameha def. Baldwin 25-19, 25-17, 25-16. Leaders—KS: Kamuela Grugier-Hill and Cullen Mosher 9 kills, Kaehu Kaaa 35 assists. Baldwin: Brad Bowlin 7 kills, Justyn Kuhaulua-Feiteira 18 assists.