Kamehameha-Hawai'i and Roosevelt advance
By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer
Kamehameha-Hawai'i, the little brother among the Kamehameha Schools' three campuses, showed last night it is growing up fast in boys volleyball.
Kamehameha-Hawai'i didn't budge against its storied Kapalama campus rival, winning 25-22, 25-23 in the quarterfinals of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Boys Volleyball State Championships at McKinley.
Joshua Walters had eight kills, and Chandler Kaaa had seven kills and three blocks for Kamehameha-Hawai'i, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion.
"It means a lot to beat our brother campus," said Kamehameha-Hawai'i's Andrew Love. "It's a big rivalry between us."
Kamehameha-Hawai'i, the No. 3 seed, will face Roosevelt in the semifinals tonight at 7:30.
There were 10 ties in the first game and 11 in the second.
The first game was tied 22-22, but a service error, a double contact and an ace by Colton Collins gave Kamehameha-Hawai'i (15-2) the game.
"They're well coached by Guy Enriques, they have a lot of height, a lot of fire power," Kamehameha coach Guy Kaniho said.
The second game was also tied 22-22, and Kamehameha-Hawai'i got its final three points on a double block and two kills by Walters.
Micah Aiu led Interscholastic League of Honolulu runner-up Kamehameha (16-4) with six kills.
ROOSEVELT BEATS KAMEHAMEHA-MAUI
Roosevelt's Kaina Palama is a well-built, 6-foot-2 junior, but he said he gets "scared" of the block on occasion.
He didn't look it in the third game as he pounded seven kills in a 22-25, 25-19, 25-20 victory over Kamehameha-Maui (5-6), the Maui Interscholastic League runner-up.
"Sometime people look at the block and some of us get really scared like, 'Oh, the block is coming. I better watch out now,' " said Palama, who finished with 14 kills.
He later told himself, "I'm going to pound away, I'm going to swing away, I'm not going to be scared anymore."
The third game was tied 18-18, but Roosevelt (15-1), the O'ahu Interscholastic Association champion and No. 2 seed, went on a 5-1 run to take control.
Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.
