Tough-serving Hawai'i Baptist hardly looked shorthanded.

The Eagles, ranked fifth in The Advertiser's statewide poll and missing three players who were ill, swept No. 10 Maryknoll, 25-14, 25-17, in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu boys volleyball match yesterday at Hawai'i Baptist.

Ryan Leung had 10 kills and Branden Kaneshiro added five for Hawai'i Baptist (7-1), the defending Division II state champion. The Eagles are the highest ranked Division II team in the Top 10 poll.

Brian Fung had five kills for the Spartans (7-4), who had one player out with an injury. Maryknoll competes in Division I and all ILH teams play each other regardless of classification during the regular season.

"They came out really focused," Hawai'i Baptist coach Teoni Obrey said of his team. "We had three players who were sick. We were really focused. We had goals in mind."

Getting the starting nod were role players Robbie Mun, a senior who played at middle hitter in the first set, and Justin Oka, a senior who played the libero position for the entire match.

"They stepped up," Obrey said. "(Mun) is in his first year. They filled in and did well.

"In volleyball, if you don't make mistakes, initiate errors and stay composed, you can compete."

In the first set, Leung's jump serves scored four straight and helped the Eagles take an 8-2 lead. Maryknoll closed within five twice, but Kaneshiro's kill made it 11-5. His service ace extended the lead to 13-6 and another ace by Ellison Iseri made it 17-7.

The Eagles' tough serves hurt the Spartans on serve-receive, making it hard for Maryknoll to pass the ball and to get off good sets for their hitters. The Eagles had seven aces.

"We're one of the shortest teams," Kaneshiro said. "We focus on serving and passing to get out of it."

Kills by Davis Holt and Michael Gomez and an ace by Chad Sumulong helped the Spartans start the second set with a 4-3 lead. The score was tied three more times until Nathan Le and Kaneshiro had back-to-back kills and an ace by West Hatae put the Eagles ahead 9-6.

Fung's kill cut it to 9-7 before the Eagles went on an 8-0 run to pull away. Leung, a 6-foot-4 junior, had two kills during the run and had seven in the second set, coming from a variety of spots on the left side, right side and back row. His ace made it 23-13 and Joshua Shon's kill put the Eagles at match point.

Maryknoll's Kahanu Ponimoi put down a kill, the Eagles hit two attempts into the antenna and an ace by Jetson Yee cut the deficit to 24-17. Le's kill ended the match.

The Eagles return eight of 10 players from last year's championship team. Kaneshiro said they are trying to get better.

"We had some rough spots (earlier this season), playing not exactly where we need to be," Kaneshiro said. "We're taking it day by day. The things we're doing wrong, we want to improve on all our mistakes."

NOTE:

Punahou is ranked first in the latest ESPN RISE Fab 50 national rankings. 'Iolani is fourth, Hawai'i Baptist is 19th and Roosevelt is 24th.