Posted on: Tuesday, September 11, 2001

Iolani volleyball team to take on some of best on Mainland

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By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

Iolani School will serve, spike and dig against some of the nation's best girls' volleyball teams at the David Mohs Memorial Tournament this weekend in Huntington Beach, Calif.

The Raiders, 2-0 in Interscholastic League of Honolulu play and once ranked 43rd nationally in Student Sports FAB 50, are among 32 schools entered in Division I play. There are 25 others in Division II. Iolani is one of two non-California teams in the tournament; the other is from Utah.

"We should be able to get out of our pool," Iolani coach Ann Kang said. "From there, it's luck of the draw."

The Raiders will play two pool matches Friday and one Saturday morning. The teams then advance to a single-elimination bracket. If they continue to win, the finals are set for Monday.

Iolani leaves Thursday night and is scheduled to return Sunday. But Kang said if the team does reach the final, it will make adjustments to stay the extra days.

Among the teams in the tournament are No. 5 Harvard-Westlake (North Hollywood, Calif.), winner of the Iolani tournament last month, and No. 6 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.).

Kang felt the competition would be good for her team, which returns a number of players with considerable playing experience either from last season or from club competition.

Among them are all-state selection Kanoe Kamana'o, ILH second-team all-star Ashley Elliazar, La'akea Campbell, Blair Nonaka, Raeceen Woolford, Fabriann Gin and Kristin Kutara.

The Raiders play at St. Andrew's Priory at 4:30 p.m. today. They will return in time for next Wednesday's match against perennial ILH contender Kamehameha.