Kamehameha clinches state tournament berth
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• Photo gallery: Kamehameha vs. Iolani volleyball
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
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VIDEO: Kamehameha beats Iolani
Four-time defending girls volleyball state champion Kamehameha will get its chance to "Drive For Five."
The Warriors — ranked No. 2 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll of coaches and media — pulled away from visiting No. 6 'Iolani, 25-19, 21-25, 25-19, 25-13, last night to clinch the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's second and final Division I state tournament berth.
Kamehameha improved to 17-2 in ILH play and will travel to No. 1 Punahou (18-0) at 3 p.m. tomorrow with the league's second-round title at stake. If the Buffanblu win, they will be the ILH overall champion and will earn the league's top seed and first-round bye in the state tournament Oct. 28 through Oct. 31.
If the Warriors win, a special one-match playoff for the overall title will be played on Tuesday.
For now, Kamehameha can at least feel secure in knowing its coveted state berth is locked up.
"When we didn't win the first round, that was our goal," said Warriors junior middle blocker Talia Jardin-Fermentez, who finished with 14 kills and three blocks last night. "Now our eyes are on the (second-round) title."
'Iolani's season ends at 15-4.
The Raiders evened the match at 1-1 and trailed 15-14 in Set 3 after a kill by Mahina Haina and Malie Yoon's ace, but Taylor Akana and Nicole Sniffen combined on a block to start Kamehameha on a 6-0 run to push the lead to 21-14. Jardin-Fermentez then had three kills to stretch it to 24-16.
'Iolani staged a mini-rally with three straight points, but a serving error ended it.
Jardin-Fermentez tied Set 4 at 4-4 on a kill down the middle , starting the Warriors on a 13-1 run that essentially put the match away.
"Whenever they got a good pass, they went to the middle and it was something we couldn't stop," Raiders coach Jenic Tumaneng said. "We thought we could try and put some other girls in to break their momentum, but give (the Warriors) credit — they kept putting pressure on us."
Haina finished with a match-high 19 kills, and Alissa Youart added 15 kills for 'Iolani.
Sophomore outside hitters Amanda Wasko and Misty Ma'a contributed 10 and nine kills, respectively, for Kamehameha.
"One of the keys was we passed pretty well, and we served tough," Warriors coach Chris Blake said. "It was a great team win."
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