Kalaheo holds off Pearl City
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
The balance of power in O'ahu Interscholastic Association boys volleyball shifted the past two years from West to East.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
But last night's league quarterfinals showed that this season, it may go right down the middle.
Scott Neumann of Mililani gets a kill past Waipahu's Pioli Ula Falaniko.
Two teams each from the Eastern and Western divisions won and advanced to the state tournament in the process.
At McKinley's Student Council Gym, East champion Kalaheo held off West No. 4 seed Pearl City, 26-24, 28-26, and Mililani, seeded fifth in the West, knocked off West champ Waipahu, 16-25, 25-17, 25-17.
At Kahuku, West No. 6 seed Nanakuli upset West runner-up Radford, 23-25, 28-26, 25-13, and East No. 2 Kahuku edged West No. 3 Leilehua, 23-25, 25-15, 25-21.
Saturday's semifinals at McKinley will pit Mililani (7-4) against Nanakuli (7-4) at 4 p.m., followed by Kalaheo (11-0) vs. Kahuku (10-1) at 5:30 p.m. Both matches will be televised live on Oceanic Channel 16.
In 2002, all four OIA teams in the state tournament came from the West. Last season, all four came from the East.
"Anybody can beat anybody in the OIA this year," Pearl City coach Dayne Teves said. "Just look at what Mililani did tonight. And even Nanakuli — they're No. 6, but they're playing really well right now."
Teves' Chargers nearly pulled off an upset of their own, only to falter in the final moments of both games. Pearl City (7-4) led the first game 23-19 but the Mustangs' Mana Guerrero had a kill and block to close it to 23-21, and a Chargers error made it 23-22.
A Kalaheo error put Pearl City at game point, but another Chargers error tied it at 24. Guerrero then got a block for a point and David Moore landed a kill from the back row to end it.
"We practice that drill all the time — being behind 23-22," said Kalaheo outside hitter Elias David, who finished with a match-high 10 kills. "Pearl City surprised us a lot, they picked up all our mistakes on offense and defense. They're definitely a good, scrappy team."
The Chargers showed that again in the second game, gaining game point at 24-23. But the Mustangs again rallied, tying it at 24 on a kill by Zach Reis and taking a 25-24 lead on David's kill.
After Pearl City tied it at 26, the Mustangs took the lead for good after the Chargers shanked a pass and ended it on a line shot by David that was blocked out.
"I'm real happy at our team effort tonight, because we were working in a lot of subs," Kalaheo coach Sivan Leoni said. "Some of our guys didn't have their best match, but it's OK because we played as a real team."
Scott Neumann had 10 kills, four blocks and 11 digs to lead Mililani's upset of Waipahu.
After falling behind 8-3 in the third game, Waipahu closed to 9-8 before the Trojans went on another 8-3 run to take a commanding 17-11 lead.
"(Our) coach said no matter what, just keep playing hard," Neumann said. "It finally stuck in our heads."
Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2456.
