KAILUA — The Kalaheo High School boys volleyball team continued its blitz through the O'ahu Interscholastic Association's Eastern Division last night, sweeping visiting Kaimuki, 25-13, 25-14.

Now the Mustangs (12-1) face their first test from the West.

Kalaheo meets Pearl City in tonight's league semifinals, with first serve set for 7:30 at McKinley's Student Council Gym following the other semifinal between Radford and Roosevelt at 6.

Both matches will be televised live by OC-16.

The defending OIA champion Mustangs lost to Castle on Sept. 7, but have won all 11 of their matches since. In fact, the only team they failed to sweep during that span was Kaimuki, which stretched them to three games in a 25-19, 23-25, 25-17 regular season match three weeks ago.

But last night was a different story, as Kalaheo was never threatened in a match that lasted less than an hour.

Mustangs coach Sivan Leoni said his team's winning ways can be traced to mid-September, when the players finally settled into their appropriate roles.

"The first few matches, we changed the lineup a lot just to see who would be best for the different positions," Leoni said. "We have a lot of flexibility on this team; a lot of players can play different positions."

That versatility paid off last night as Kalaheo had to adjust to playing without 6-foot-6 junior middle blocker Tyler Caswell, who sprained his ankle and will sit out tonight's semifinals.

Fellow junior Clifton Pires (6-1) steadied the middle last night and the Mustangs did not skip a beat as senior setter Chris Tumaneng ran a balanced offensive attack.

Pires, outside hitters Mana Guerreiro and Elias David and middle blocker/outside hitter Chase Moses took turns pounding sharp kills into the Bulldogs' defense. Even Tumaneng, a four-year starter, contributed the occasional kill as Kalaheo jumped to leads of 6-1, 13-4 and 20-9 in the second game.

"We've really got a lot of weapons," Leoni said.

The Mustangs, however, face a different kind of challenge tonight in a Pearl City team that advanced with a 28-26, 25-20 victory over defending OIA runner-up Kahuku.

"They're an excellent team," Leoni said. "Even though they're not very tall, their block is very solid and they're very scrappy."

In other quarterfinal action last night at Radford, Roosevelt defeated Mililani, 25-14, 25-20, and Radford beat Castle, 28-26, 25-15.

All four semifinalists secured state tournament berths, as did Mililani and Kahuku after coming back to win consolation matches later in the evening.

Mililani defeated Castle, 25-18, 25-23, and Kahuku swept Kaimuki, 25-14, 26-24.

In the girls consolation bracket, Waipahu earned a state tournament berth by defeating Farrington, 19-25, 25-22, 25-22. The Marauders will play 'Aiea on Saturday for fifth place.

In the Division II boys tournament, Wai'anae defeated Kalani, 25-18, 23-25, 25-15, and 'Aiea swept Kaiser, 25-14, 25-14.

OIA RED CONFERENCE VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS

BOYS

TODAY

SEMIFINALS*

AT MCKINLEY

6 p.m. — Radford vs. Roosevelt

7:30 p.m. — Kalaheo vs. Pearl City

SATURDAY

AT FARRINGTON

9 a.m. — Fifth place: Mililani vs. Kahuku

AT KALANI

10 a.m. — Third place: Radford-Roosevelt loser vs. Kalaheo-Pearl City loser

NOV. 3

CHAMPIONSHIP*

AT MCKINLEY

6 p.m. — Radford-Roosevelt winner vs. Kalaheo-Pearl City winner

GIRLS

TOMORROW

SEMIFINALS*

AT MCKINLEY

6 p.m. — Kalani vs. Roosevelt

7:30 p.m. — Kahuku vs. Moanalua

SATURDAY

AT FARRINGTON

10 a.m. — Fifth place: 'Aiea vs. Waipahu

AT KALANI

Noon — Third place: Kalani-Roosevelt loser vs. Kahuku-Moanalua loser

NOV. 3

CHAMPIONSHIP*

AT MCKINLEY

7:30 p.m. — Kalani-Roosevelt winner vs. Kahuku-Moanalua winner

*Live on OC-16

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.