Waialua makes history; wins first-ever OIA boys volleyball championship

BY MICHAEL LASQUERO | HSRN
PUBLISHED MAY 2, 2024

History was made Wednesday night.

Waialua captured the program’s first-ever OIA boys volleyball championship in reverse sweep-fashion over Kailua in the league’s Division II title match at Radford’s Jim Alegre Gymnasium.

Set scores were 21-25, 22-25, 25-16, 25-22, 15-10.

It was a total team effort for the Bulldogs, who won their sixth straight contest to finish OIA play with a 9-3 record.

Jaris Ablao had a double-double of 13 kills and 10 digs, Keoni Nahoopii put down 12 kills, Shane Kelly had 11 kills and Dayton Quick registered nine kills and seven blocks. Setter Cyres Lacar was also solid with 39 assists, 17 digs and five kills.

“I wanted that banner,” said Quick. “Individual success is awesome, but this is a team sport and I came here for that banner be hung up in my gym with my teammates and our year on it.”

Waialua adjusted its lineup after the second set and made adjustments that saw the Bulldogs take a commanding 19-11 lead in the third set and start the fourth set on a 9-0 run. The Bulldogs also hit .147 and .125 in the first two sets but hit .321 in the third set.

“When you have a big lead like that, you have to keep it up,” said Quick. “Volleyball is a game of momentum and my coaches say ‘first team to grab onto the momentum and hold on, almost always comes out on top.’”

The Bulldogs won two of their three matches that went to five sets this season while the Surfriders (7-6) are 0-3.

Kaleb Cui had a match-high 22 kills in the loss to lead Kailua, who was seeking its first OIA title since 2014.