Iolani girls win ILH volleyball
By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer
For many years Iolani girls volleyball players walked into their gym and noticed they didn't have an Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship banner to call their own.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
Things are about to change.
Iolani's Kristin Koochi digs a Punahou shot, helping the Raiders win their first Interscholastic League of Honolulu volleyball championship.
Host Iolani outlasted rival Punahou, 15-6, 3-15, 15-12, 9-15, 15-11, yesterday for its first ILH girls volleyball championship.
"The girls have been looking at all these banners and saying there's no volleyball up there," Iolani coach Ann Kang said. "They've been looking up at them and really set their goals high for numerous years."
Kanoe Kamana'o had 12 kills and Blair Nonaka 11 for the Raiders.
"Iolani's very disciplined, very polished," Punahou coach John McDermott said. "Their experience is a big factor for them."
Iolani will be the ILH's top seed in the Nissan Girls State Championships, Nov. 15-17. Punahou will be the league's second seed.
Iolani easily won the first game behind four kills by Kamana'o. Four other Raiders had two kills apiece. Punahou went up 3-1 after two consecutive aces by Aneli Otineru, but Iolani went on a 14-3 run to end it.
Punahou looked to Michelle Look in the second game. Look had six kills, all from the left side.
"She's been one of our best players all four years on the varsity," McDermott said. "She's got a lot of spirit, athletic ability and she's the leader of our team."
Punahou took a commanding 11-3 lead in the third game, only to see Iolani reel off 11 consecutive points. During the rally, Iolani's Ashley Aratani served 10 straight points off jump serves.
"She's been doing that all year round," Kang said. "It's a little different from everybody else's serve. It was great to see at that time."
Punahou went on an 8-0 run in the fourth game to take a 12-4 lead. The Buffanblu had three service aces during the run.
Late in the game, Punahou middle blocker Seisha Sukekane hurt her right leg while running along the net to get to a ball. She did not return.
"That was pretty big," McDermott said. "She's a solid performer in the middle. She does things a lot of people don't notice."
In the rally-scoring fifth game, five Raiders got at least one kill as Iolani took a 10-4 lead. Nonaka ended the match with a cross-court kill from the right side.
"It's overwhelming, especially for the seniors who have worked so hard," Aratani said.
Otineru had 18 kills, and Look had 16 kills and five aces for Punahou.
"We have some things to work on, but I'm pretty happy with the way we played," McDermott said. "It was just a good match overall. Both teams played pretty darn well."
