HHSAA volleyball: Memorable year for Hilo ends in quarterfinals

KEAAU — Hilo’s magical volleyball ride finally came to an end, and a serious rebuilding job will soon take place.

King Kekaulike swept the Vikings 26-24, 25-21, 25-18 in the quarterfinals in the HHSAA Division I tournament on Saturday at Koaia Gym.

The season is over for the BIIF runner-up Vikings (13-5), who lose five senior starters in Bradley Comilla, Justice Lord, Maikah Tandal, Trevor Castro, and Sione Atuekaho.

The No. 4 seed and MIL champion Na Alii (13-2) will play No. 1 seed and three-time defending state champion Punahou (16-0) in the semifinals at 5 p.m. Friday at Moanalua High’s gym.

Lord had a memorable final match. The 6-foot-5 middle blocker blasted 13 kills on a .455 hitting clip. Comilla, his firepower partner, struggled. The 6-2 outside hitter had 10 kills, but hit negative .037.

Tandal and Atuekaho each had three kills, and Castro, Hilo’s standout libero, had just three digs.

Junior outside hitter, Taulele Toledo, who had two kills, and junior setter Kaimana Kawaha will lead a new-look lineup next year.

“We’ve got a lot of big shoes to fill, a lot of holes,” Hilo coach Ben Pana said. “Hopefully, some of the kids coming back will get a little taller.

“But it was a great ride for this senior class. We’ve come a long way, and I’m proud of the team.”

Not long ago, the Vikings won four straight BIIF titles, the last in 2009. But that was on the Division II level. The school’s last state appearance against competition its own size was 2001, before statewide classification started in 2005.

In a first-round sweep against Kahuku on Friday, the Vikings served six aces, and their tough serving gave the OIA’s No. 3 team’s ball-handlers trouble starting the offense’s engine with wobbly passes in serve-receive.

That was a sweep — as well as a win — not many saw coming.

A day later, Hilo’s serving, the team’s strength, wasn’t a deadly weapon against King Kekaulike, which had little trouble passing in serve-receive and ran a smooth and balanced offense.

Don Thompson smashed 15 kills and hit .308 while Colton Cowell added 10 kills for Na Alii, who barely outhit Hilo, .221 to .212.

The biggest difference was Hilo’s lack of ball-control due to King Kekaulike’s punishing serves. Cowell had six of his squad’s 11 aces against 10 service errors. The Viks had zero aces and three service errors.

In the first set, Thompson played like a 6-2 monster middle blocker. He nailed nine kills on an .800 hitting percentage.

The Vikings led 20-14, and 24-23, but couldn’t close Game 1. Thompson got his eighth kill to tie it 24-24. Then Hilo’s ball-control turned into a banana peel.

Cowell soft-touched a ball over, but the Vikings couldn’t handle it and the changeup fell to the floor for a kill. Then on King Kekaulike’s serve for set point, Hilo shanked the serve-receive over for a free ball. Thompson’s eyes lit when he smashed set point.

In the second set, the Vikings led 17-16, but of the Valley Isle team’s next nine points a frustrating five were giveaway points on Hilo unforced errors.

The Na Alii threw almost nothing but fastballs from the service line in the final game, getting six aces. Cowell had a nice five-point run with two aces to push Na Alii’s cushion to 16-10. He had a nifty roll shot ace during that spurt.

In a play that put the Vikings’ ball-control woes in a nutshell, they had a ball-handling error on match point.

“It wasn’t the best outcome that we wanted,” Pana said. “We were not as efficient as we were on Friday night, with our passing and serving. They’ve got a good team and No. 4 (Cowell) killed us with his jump-serve. They had a game plan and executed it. It was hard for us to adjust.”

Then the Hilo coach’s thoughts turned to something far more meaningful. Like his departing players, he had Mother’s Day on his mind.

“I’ve got to go home and cook for Mother’s Day,” he said. “You know, overall, we had a good season. Not too many people expected us to get this far.”