Moanalua Ends Decades-Long Wait, Stuns Punahou for Division I Boys Volleyball State Title
The Koa Head trophy belongs to the OIA once again.
For the first time since Roosevelt won the Boys Volleyball State Championship in 1979, an OIA program has captured Hawai‘i’s top boys volleyball crown and it was Moanalua that delivered the breakthrough.
The unbeaten Na Menehune rallied past defending champion Punahou School in five sets Saturday night, 14-25, 25-18, 18-25, 25-19, 15-13, to complete a perfect 16-0 season.
The victory snapped decades of ILH dominance in the sport, with Punahou, Kamehameha and ‘Iolani combining to win nearly every championship since Roosevelt’s title run in the late 1970s.
Photo Credit: Brian Bautista
Punahou controlled the opening set behind a powerful attack led by Cameron Porter, who finished with a match-high 25 kills. The Buffanblu rolled to a 25-14 win and later reclaimed momentum with a 25-18 third-set victory to move within one set of another state title.
But Moanalua responded every time.
Na Menehune evened the match in the second set behind strong play from Jarryn McCutcheon, Puka Tauane and Jerome Obrero before delivering their biggest stretch of the night in the fourth. McCutcheon repeatedly found openings in the Punahou defense while Colby Kawaa added two key service aces to help force a decisive fifth set.
The championship set ultimately belonged to Lionel Gannon.
The senior erupted early in the fifth, powering Moanalua to an 8-4 advantage with a string of kills that shifted momentum permanently toward Na Menehune. Punahou later rallied within 14-13, but Moanalua closed the match when Kawaa connected with McCutcheon for the championship-winning kill.
McCutcheon and Gannon led Moanalua with 18 kills each, while Tauane added nine kills. Kawaa finished with 30 assists and two aces in the title-clinching performance.
For Punahou, Porter’s 25 kills paced all players while Tanoaalofa Scanlan added 16 kills and Kanalu Akana totaled 49 assists.
After nearly five decades, the Division I boys volleyball Koa Head trophy belongs to the OIA.
PHOTOS BY BRIAN BAUTISTA
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