Kahuku tops Kalani to win OIA girls volleyball title

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser staff writer

Kahuku's girls upset previously unbeaten Kalani to win their first O'ahu Interscholastic Association championship since 1993, and Pearl City's boys held off upstart Moanalua to win their fourth OIA title in six years last night at Stan Sheriff Center.

Kahuku, which lost to Kalani earlier this season, won 15-10, 15-6 last night behind a fine all-around performance by Michelle "Tuli" Peters. Pearl City (12-0) used a strong all-around team effort to win 15-12, 15-8.

Peters, a junior outside hitter, finished with 15 kills, 11 digs, two blocks and an ace.

"She was awesome," Kahuku coach Mona Ah Hoy said. "She had an excellent practice (Thursday) and she just carried it over to tonight."

The Red Raiders (10-3) came out with a high energy level that never dipped until the final point. They grabbed a 5-0 lead in the first game and a 4-0 lead in the second.

"We hadn't been down badly like that before," Falcons coach Tehani Miyashiro said. "We didn't play half as good as we did all season."

Kalani (12-1) rallied to close to 9-8 before Peters led Kahuku to a 6-2 advantage the rest of the way. In the second game, Kalani again rallied to narrow it to 7-5, but Peters had two kills and two blocks in the next eight points to help squash the comeback.

"Our saying is, 'Emotionally scrappy,' — that's what we always are," Peters said. "We just have as much fun as we can."

Nicole Po'uha had seven kills and nine digs for the Red Raiders, and Grace George added 10 digs, three blocks and three kills.

Kahuku, which struggled defensively all season, had 49 digs, including 32 in the second game.

Freshman Tamari Miyashiro had 14 kills and nine digs to lead Kalani, and sophomore Marisa Okamoto added 10 kills and 10 digs.

Pearl City played a near-perfect match to keep its perfect season alive at 12-0. The Chargers, led by 5-foot-10 senior outside hitter Allison Dupont, hit .301 as a team and kept Moanalua (10-3) guessing between several different attackers. Dupont had a match-high 14 kills, Kapena Wong added nine kills and three blocks and Kalei Kaanaana contributed eight kills.

"They had to stop five attackers," Pearl City coach Reid Shigemasa said. "Their blockers couldn't focus on one hitter."

Said Dupont: "That's the main reason we won. We have other guys who can hit besides me."

The Menehune stayed close in both games, trailing 10-9 in the first and splitting the first 14 points of the second. But each time, the Chargers grabbed control by keeping errors to a minimum and looking to Dupont and his 43-inch vertical leap to lead them to victory.

Moanalua coach Doug Hee said he was just as impressed by Dupont's backcourt play as his hitting. Dupont had four digs.

"That guy can jump, but I wasn't expecting him to pass the ball as well as he did," Hee said. "He really handles the ball well. In fact, their whole team played almost faultless. We made some mistakes, but I think Pearl City is just playing at a peak level right now. I wouldn't be surprised to see them do well at states."

Jacob Gaison led Moanalua with 10 kills and six digs, and teammate Nick Slate added seven kills and three blocks.