ISLE FILE
Iolani coach switches role

Advertiser Staff

Luis Ramirez, who coached the Iolani boys volleyball team to the state title in 2003, has been named the head coach of Iolani's girls team.

Former Kamehameha boys volleyball assistant Mike Among will replace Ramirez as the boys volleyball coach.

"The challenge for me, I want to do good things for the girls, the same things I was doing for the boys," said Ramirez, who has been the boys coach the past four years. "It seems that the guys are in a good place, and I want to go in and build the program for the girls."

Ramirez is also the club director and owner for the ASICS Rainbows Volleyball Club.

"It was a really hard decision for me to make, but for my goals as a coach, going into another program and putting it in a place where it should be is a challenge for me and I'm ready for that," he said.

With Among's help, the Warriors captured two state titles and six second-place finishes at the state tournament.

"He's just a class-act," Ramirez said about Among. "I know he's going to be a tremendous asset for the boys' program. He has always upheld himself, and the kids respond very well to him."

BOXING

Hawai'i card Saturday

O'ahu's Tupouniua Kulihaapai will face Maui's Kaulama Alo Kaonohi in a 189-pound Senior Junior Olympic Division bout of the Hawai'i State Boxing Regionals Saturday at Palolo Gym.

The winner of the featured bout will advance to Brownsville, Texas, in June.

The card starts at 6 p.m. Admission is $10.