Led by 6-foot-7 sophomore Joshua Taylor, top-ranked Punahou needed just over an hour to dispatch No. 4 Kamehameha in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu second-round boys volleyball match at Hemmeter Fieldhouse last night. The scores were 25-18, 25-9 and 25-17.

The Buffanblu (11-1) dominated every facet of the match. They hit over .430 (37 kills against nine errors on 65 attempts) while holding the Warriors (9-3) to a minus-.059 hitting percentage and never trailed in any set.

"That's how we can play," Punahou coach Rick Tune said. "We were kind of sleepwalking during the first half of the season, but that 'Iolani loss was a big wake-up call for us. Since then, it's been day-and-night with our guys."

After the April 9 loss to 'Iolani, Punahou swept St. John Bosco (Calif.) last week before last night's drubbing of Kamehameha. In the first-round meeting between the schools, the Warriors took the first set before the Buffanblu rallied to win the next two and the match.

"The difference was the 'Iolani loss, since then we've had great practices and everybody has stepped up," Punahou senior Maddison McKibbin said. "We knew what we had to do after that. We played well against (St. John) Bosco, but some might have thought it was a fluke, so hopefully this game solidified what we're capable of doing."

Punahou took a quick 10-2 lead in the first game and led by as many as nine points. Kamehameha cut the deficit to six after fending off two straight game points before Taylor closed out game one with a kill. He finished with a match-high 11 kills and four blocks.

The second game was more of the same. Punahou jumped out to a 6-1 lead that forced Kamehameha coach Guy Kaniho to take an early timeout.

"Hats off to them, they really studied us well and were ready," Kaniho said. "They read our setter, knew our hitters' tendencies and they adjusted real well."

Jarrett Chang and McKibbin combined on back-to-back blocks, followed by McKibbin's second kill of the game, which capped a 6-0 run to put the Buffanblu ahead 13-5. Punahou closed out game two with consecutive kills by Henry Cassiday.

"They're starting to buy into the scheme and if everyone does their job and we have a collective effort, we can play with anybody," Tune said.

Kamehameha committed 12 errors in the third game and trailed by as many as 10 points after Taylor Crabb's kill made it 24-14 and gave Punahou match point. Crabb, who took over full-time at setter after splitting duties with McKibbin earlier in the season, put away the final kill off an assist from McKibbin.

In another second-round match, Mid-Pacific defeated Maryknoll, 25-19, 25-15, 25-16.