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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, October 18, 2009

Punahou claims ILH tourney


by Stanley Lee
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

No. 1 Punahou celebrates its 25-14, 15-25, 21-25, 25-16, 15-9 victory over No. 2 Kamehameha in the ILH tournament final.

NORMAN SHAPIRO | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Confronted with its biggest challenge of the season, the Punahou girls volleyball team lost focus, then found renewed energy.

Yesterday afternoon, host Punahou fought off a series of spurts from a determined Kamehameha team, rallying midway through the match with a boost from its bench in a 25-14, 15-25, 21-25, 25-16, 15-9 win in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu tournament final at Hemmeter Fieldhouse.

"We definitely learned people are out to get us and we have to bring our A-game every single time," said Punahou's Juliana Behrens, who had 16 kills. "We struggled a bit and we were lucky to pick that up again."

The win was the biggest challenge the Buffanblu (19-0) have faced all year. Tai Manu-Olevao added 15 kills for Punahou, which won the ILH overall title and will be the league's No. 1 seed — and likely overall top seed — when the Division I state volleyball tournament pairings are announced next Sunday.

Amanda Wasko had 12 kills and Misty Ma'a had 11 for Kamehameha (16-3), ranked No. 2 in The Advertiser's Top 10 poll, and also off to the state tournament scheduled for Oct. 28 to 31. Punahou couldn't stop Kamehameha's quick middle attack early in the match, but Kamehameha coach Chris Blake felt his Warriors played in spurts.

"Overall, we played really well, but Punahou played well at key moments," Blake said. "We need to do a better job executing down the stretch."

Struggling midway through, Punahou started substituting and found a spark in freshman Tayler Higgins. Inserted in Set 3, she had three kills in that set.

Her tough serving broke open a 9-7 game in Set 5, pushing Punahou's lead to 13-7. She had an ace during the run.

"It puts a lot of pressure on you," Higgins said of being called off the bench. "But that's what we practice for."

Setter Malia Patterson's kill sealed the match after her dump attempt bounced around on the Kamehameha side before being sent back. Patterson then swung at the ball as it came over.

Higgins hopes the win will show her team "that we can accomplish anything."

"Our team is very strong, everyone helped out," Higgins said. "It was a team win."

The entire match was a dramatic series of runs.

Tied at 11 in Set 1, Lahela Williams served seven straight to help Punahou pull away. It was part of a 14-3 Buffanblu run that closed out the set.

Kamehameha then started Set 2 with a 5-0 lead and built a 16-7 advantage behind the hitting of outside hitters Ma'a and Wasko.

Punahou cut the deficit to 17-14, but Kamehameha's Nicole Sniffen had a kill and Behrens hit two attempts out to swing the momentum over to the Warriors.

Tied at 10 in Set 3, Kamehameha used a 9-2 run to surge ahead with Ma'a and Talia Jardin-Fermentez teaming up for two blocks.

Punahou got within three on four occasions, the last at 24-21. Wasko's kill ended the set.

The Buffanblu took the lead early in Set 4. Set 5 was tied four times until Brigitte Russo's kill gave Punahou an 8-7 lead.

"We changed the energy of the game," Behrens said. "During the second game, it was starting to feel kind of negative. We told the team we need to pick it up and the energy picked up a ton."