Wednesday night’s Central Pacific Bank/BIIF boys volleyball finals were a mix of the old and the new — as Konawaena swept Ka‘u High to snatch its third straight BIIF DII title, while Hilo High won its first DI title in more than a decade to end KS-Hawai‘i’s three-season dynasty.
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KONAWAENA 3 – KA‘U 0
In a quickfire match that lasted just over an hour, the Wildcats handled the Trojans in straight sets of 25-17, 25-19 and 25-20.
Ka‘u fought hard, and gave almost nothing easily to Kona. Konawaena coach Ainsley Keawekane said that he didn’t expect to get the sweep.
“I know (Ka‘u) coach (Joshua Ortega) has done this for a long time, and you never know what you’re gonna get,” he said. “(Ka‘u) started off strong, and then our boys found themselves.”
Keawekane credited his team’s perrenial success to the strong team dynamic among his players. Several of Konawaena’s players were also on its last two BIIF champion teams.
“They gel, they stick together,” he said. “They play as one team. When they get out of swing, they find themselves.”
The Wildcats closed out with a perfect BIIF season, suffering no losses to local opponents and going 12-0 overall and 10-0 in the regular season. Kona also swept all but three BIIF DII rivals — winning in four sets over Pahoa, Kohala and Christian Liberty.
For Ka‘u, it was a fast and anticlimactic end to what has otherwise been a historic season. However, the Trojans were more than grateful to be on the BIIF title stage for the first time in ten years. No. 3-seeded Ka‘u fought tooth and nail through five sets to beat Pahoa in the semifinals on Monday.
“It feels really good,” Ortega said. “The match against Pahoa was so good, it was five sets and everybody provided. Coming to this final match was such a great feeling. I don’t think we’ve been to one since 2014, and I was coaching back then — so it brings back a lot of good memories and feelings about how we’re still capable of coming here. We always make it to the (BIIF DII) playoffs, but never the final match.”
Ortega hypothesized that his team’s downfall was due to stagefright, and exhaustion from their epic showdown two nights prior.
“I think Pahoa’s game really took a toll on us,” he said. “Our hitter, TJ (Kuahia-Fa‘afia) provided a lot and he tried really hard. It was a little fatigue, but maybe also nerves. This group of kids has never been here. Being from a small school, they don’t necessarily see big things or big championships. It’s a good thing being here, but it might be a thing that caused us to be a little shakey.”
Both the Trojans and Wildcats will get to head to O‘ahu for the state tournament.
“After Pahoa’s game, (Ka‘u players) were so excited because we’ve never gotten a chance to travel off-island with this team,” Ortega said. “They were super excited to go to O‘ahu, but they had to be reminded that we had to take care of (the BIIF championship) first. Because we lost, we’re gonna make sure to give them a good, positive talk about trying to up our game at states.”
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HILO 3 – KSH 2
The evening’s latter game was nearly the opposite of the first, as Hilo and KS-Hawai‘i scrapped through five long sets — two of which went into extra points.
KSH got the upper hand with a 25-20 win in the first set. But, the second set went the other way. Hilo, led by the tricky and light-speed hitting of Maluhia Tandal, soared past the Warriors to win 25-17.
KSH prevailed after a long, white-knuckle third set, winning 26-24. Facing a loss, Hilo turned up in the fourth set to hang on.
The Vikings led 24-22, and were on the verge of winning the fourth set when KSH emerged from a timeout and made two kills to tie the score. After another timeout, another kill put KSH at championship point. Backed by a rowdy crowd and bench, Hilo’s defense became inpenetrable and the Vikings clawed their way to a 27-25 win.
“It was a crazy match,” KSH coach Sam Thomas said. “It was back and forth. Especially the last few sets, I don’t think anyone had more than a three-point spread for very long. We were at set point, we would have won, but we couldn’t put the ball away. Hilo had a great kill.
“(Hilo) persevered, and they were able to stay steady down the stretch longer than we were.”
Hilo won 15-11 in the fifth set to claim its first DI title in longer than many people can remember. Hilo’s last BIIF title was in DII in 2009.
“From the start of the season, we had (winning the BIIF championship) as our goal,” Hilo coach Adam Tuifagu said. “Every day, every game, every opportunity through all the time we spent together — this was our goal. Even in the fourth set against championship point — everyone from the coaches, to the starters and the bench believed that we had what it took to overcome it and win.”
Both Tuifagu and Thomas expressed that Wednesday’s match was one for the ages.
“One of the parents said ‘that’s the kind of volleyball that people pay to watch,’” Tuifagu said. “That’s the reason we play sports, for those moments where we get to celebrate as a Hilo High School community and volleyball community.”
Hilo’s team is comprised of many multi-sport athletes, and was Hilo’s first boys ballsport team to win a BIIF championship this year, so far (baseball begins BIIF finals this weekend). The Vikings’ Football team fell short of qualifying for the BIIF title game, the soccer team was knocked out of the semifinals by Waiakea and the basketball team was routed by KSH in the title game.
Many Hilo volleyball players experienced the pain of falling short in other sports’ BIIF playoffs, and came together to win a BIIF title before the end of the school year.
“All of the boys stood out,” Tuifagu said. “Our motto for this season was ‘one team, one dream.’ I think everybody played a role, we wouldn’t have been able to do it without everyone.
“Our captains all season have been Peyton (Pana) and Malu (Tandal). They’ve been the balance of the mental game with the physical game, they’ve got all kinds of sports experience. Then you’ve got people like Ikena (Leao) and Kai (Kaneta), with their football/basketball experience — Kani (Tolento-Perry) with his soccer experience. It was just an all-around team that started off as individual athletes, then became a team and then a volleyball team.
“I’m proud to say that they’re now a championship volleyball team.”
Though it was a tough loss for KSH, the Warriors were not pushovers — and fought hard against a renegade Viking squad.
“They were disappointed, but I think they can feel better about it knowing that they played hard,” Thomas said. “They left it all on the court. They wanted to give kudos to Hilo High. Hilo left it all on the court, it was a great match.”
The Warriors will get one last home game — hosting O‘ahu’s Castle High for the first round of the state championship on Monday.
“That’s the cool thing for the seniors,” Thomas said. “They get to play one more time in Koa‘i gym. I’m glad for that. We would have preferred to come out at No. 1 and go straight to O‘ahu — but if we’re gonna have to play another game, playing at home first is a really cool thing, and hopefully we’ll come out ahead and get to O‘ahu anyway.”
Hilo will get a bye and begin state tourney play in the quarterfinals. The Vikings received the No. 3 seed, and will play Thursday against the winner of a matchup between Campbell High and KS-Kapalama.
“Last year we finished in fifth,” Tuifagu said. “Same or better is our goal.
“Overall, we’re just gonna enjoy the experience that we get one more week together before seven of these boys graduate and move on to the next step in their lives.”
