Waiakea senior Kolby Aiona had a dominant double-double day on the volleyball court at Moanalua High’s gym, where he smashed a match-high 32 kills and produced a team-high 18 digs against No. 4 seed Kamehameha-Maui.
The BIIF runner-up Warriors outlasted the MIL champion Warriors 25-21, 22-25, 25-25, 25-21, 15-11 in the HHSAA Division I quarterfinals on Thursday, advancing to the semifinals for the first time in over a decade.
Aiona, a 6-foot-3 senior outside hitter, took a whopping 70 swings and hit .286. He also had two block assists for the Warriors (13-3), who finished third in 2005.
Middle blockers Damien Merseburgh (seven kills, 14 swings, .429) and Purtin Robinson (six kills, 16 attacks, .312) balanced the offense, and Santana Madrid added 12 kills on 44 swings and had 12 digs for a double-double. Libero Marcus Kenui had 13 digs.
Waiakea outhit KS-Maui, .255-.207, and had more blocks, 7-4.
Hanalei Alapai had 17 kills on 40 attacks and hit .300 to lead the No. 4 seed Warriors.
The Valley Isle Warriors (12-4) couldn’t contain Aiona in the fifth set, when he clobbered five kills, including aloha ball.
Waiakea plays five-time reigning state champion Punahou in the semifinals at 5 p.m. Friday at Moanalua High.
Division I
No. 2 seed Kamehameha-Hawaii def. Waipahu 25-20, 25-17, 25-21: Avery Enriques (15 kills, 35 swings, .143 hitting clip) and Addison Enriques (13 kills, 32 attacks, .281) took turns during target practice against the Marauders, the OIA’s No. 4 team.
Middle blockers Nalu Kahapea (10 kills, 18 swings, .278) and Jarvis Benito (three kills, 10 attacks, .100) accounted for the rest of the firepower for the Warriors (15-0), which had 41 kills against 22 errors and hit .186 at Radford High.
Kamehameha kept playing better, hitting .067 in the first set, .188 in the second and .275 in the third with efficient stats, 16 kills against only five errors.
Tristen Cross led the defense with 12 digs while Addison Enriques added seven and Avery Enriques had five digs.
Brad Tacata had nine kills and hit .250 for Waipahu, which hit .073.
Kamehameha plays Iolani in the semifinals at 7 p.m. at Moanalua High.
Division II
No. 4 Molokai def. Hawaii Prep 25-16, 12-25, 25-19, 27-25: Ghar Pautz put up stellar stats (20 kills, 11 assists, six digs) but couldn’t carry his Ka Makani to victory at Hawaii Baptist’s gym.
The Farmers had a better balance with Rockwell Adolpho and Michael Sterner, who each pounded 16 kills.
Ethan Stake added eight kills, Matija Vitorovic five and Zach Chaikin four kills for the BIIF champion Ka Makani (11-6), who play Castle in a consolation match at 7 p.m. at Kalani High.
HPA outblocked Molokai, 10-4, but the Farmers had a higher hitting clip, .168-.152. The MIL champion (13-2) more kills and a better hitting percentage in each winning set.
No. 2 Kapaa def. Konawaena 25-10, 25-15, 25-13: The Wildcats struggled to find firepower outside of senior Viliami Kaea, who knocked down a team-high eight kills, and setter Ben McKinley, who had five kills on seven swings for a .714 hitting clip at Kalani High.
The Wildcats had just 16 kills against 15 errors and hit .021 while the Warriors (13-0) piled up 40 kills against only seven errors and blasted balls at a .524 hitting clip.
Kurt Napolean (12 kills, .550) and Carson Schmick (eight kills, .462) posted superb stats for Kapaa, which outblocked Kona, 7-2.
Kaea took 21 swings and batted .095, and everyone else hit .000 or negative for BIIF runner-up Konawaena (7-8), which plays a consolation match at 4 p.m. Friday at Kalani High.
