In the rematch, Kamehameha made sure to slam the door shut and not give Waiakea any hope of a huge comeback.
The visiting Warriors played cleaner ball and swept Waiakea 25-22, 25-18, 25-20 in a BIIF Division I showdown on Monday night at the Warriors Gym.
Two weeks ago, Kamehameha led Waiakea 2-0 but lost in five sets at Koai’a Gym.
Nalu Kahapea pounded 12 kills, Isaiah Nakoa-Oness added 11 and freshman middle blocker Chyston Loa had four kills and five blocks for the visiting Warriors (2-1), who finished with 30 kills and 23 unforced errors.
Peter-Kalani Suiaunoa slammed 15 kills, Makana Kaehuaea-Credo added eight kills, and sophomore Cole Shiroma, a creative shotmaker, had just five kills for Waiakea (5-1), which compiled 32 kills and 38 giveaway points.
The home Warriors struggled with their serving. They had three aces against 10 service errors. Kamehameha had five aces and seven service miscues.
Waiakea usually had hittable balls because of senior setter Nakana Labrie, who has solid ball placement. What hurt were the mishits, partially because of Kamehameha’s bigger block, and shaky passing for the numerous giveaway points.
In Game 1, Waiakea made Kamehameha’s life rather easy with a whopping 15 unforced errors, including five service errors, most of them long and not close to the end line.
The visitors only needed to score 10 points and got a pair the easy way with aces. Nakoa-Oness knocked down set point, 25-22, after Waiakea scored five straight, including three kills from Kaehuaea-Credo.
In the 25-18 second set, Waiakea limited its free-point giveaway with just nine, including only one service error, but couldn’t stop the Kahapea and Nakoa-Oness duo. They had seven and five kills, respectively.
Kamehameha had nine giveaway points, but the home Warriors committed their unforced errors at crucial times. Three of Kamehameha’s last four points were on unforced errors before Kahapea blast set point.
In Game 3, it turned into the Loa and Gavin Galimba show during the midpoint. Loa sandwiched a pair of blocks around a kill, and Galimba, a junior setter, ripped two aces to push Kamehameha ahead 10-7.
Loa was part of two blocks down the stretch, the last for a 24-19 cushion. Then Suiaunoa smashed his last kill before Waiakea’s weakness showed up again. A service error, the team’s 10th, concluded the sweep.