Punahou School senior setter/outside hitter Anuhea Keanini knows all about Hawai'i Baptist Academy's annual volleyball "Spike Night," having attended the inaugural one as an HBA seventh grader five years ago.

Last night, Keanini helped the Buffanblu deflate much of the energy from the fall break celebration in a surprisingly quick 25-17, 25-16 sweep of the Eagles, before a stunned capacity crowd of about 1,000 at HBA Gym.

Punahou, tied for No. 3 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll of coaches and media, improved to 11-1 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu heading into Tuesday's showdown with arch rival and No. 2-ranked 'Iolani (11-1). Hawai'i Baptist, a Division II team which upset 'Iolani three weeks ago, fell to 10-2.

"I remember Spike Night, it was the highlight of the year," said Keanini, who attended HBA from kindergarten through seventh grade before transferring to Punahou. "This was pretty fun, getting to play in Spike Night against my friends, my former teammates."

The defending Division II state champion Eagles' only previous loss in the ILH came in a 25-23, 28-26 defeat to three-time defending DI champ and No. 1-ranked Kamehameha.

But last night, Punahou took control early in both games and HBA was never able to get close once the Buffanblu opened up substantial leads.

Charlotte Fonua, Tai Manu-Olevao and Keanini had consecutive kills to help stretch a 13-12 lead to 17-12, and after Sarah Palmer's kill cut it to 18-15, Keanini had two kills to spark a 5-0 run stretching it to 23-15.

Punahou jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the second game and never looked back. The Eagles closed it to 8-5 after two Buffanblu errors, but that was as close as they would get.

Punahou opened up a 13-7 lead, and after Kayla Kawamura's ace cut it to 14-10, the Buffanblu ran off five straight points to make it 19-10.

Much of Punahou's offense came from a quick middle attack, which prevented HBA from keeping balls alive with its reliable backcourt digs. Thus the Eagles were unable to create their trademark long rallies, which they tend to eventually win.

"The middles were the key," HBA coach Myles Shioji said. "We thought if we at least got soft touches to slow the ball down, we might be in good shape. But we couldn't control the middles too much, and that hurt us."

Buffanblu coach Jim Iams said his team was well aware of the undersized Eagles' skills in the backcourt, so he wanted the Buffanblu to take advantage of their height advantage.

"We knew they are a great ball-handling team, but we thought if we could match them in that and break down their serve, then we could dominate at the net," Iams said. "They're great at digging, so we had to be aware and be respectful of that. We tried to set the middle as much as we could."

Punahou executed smoothly throughout most of the match despite shuffling the lineup a little after defensive specialist Kristina Kam was on crutches due to an ankle injury suffered in the past week. Senior Courtney Lelepali moved from right side hitter to libero and made several key passes to start the offense.

"I thought Courtney did a fantastic job back there," Keanini said. "Stat-wise, she's one of our best passers."

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