KEAAU – There were no screeching metallic sounds emanating from Kamehameha’s boys volleyball practice earlier this week, but iron could be seen sharpening iron.
If a player wants to work on going up against a big block, there are few better tandems to try and scale than juniors Chase Bridges-Hunter and Chyston Loa.
If senior libero Kleighton Hooper is ever out to test his passing skills, he can just have a teammate set Kamau Maka’ike to unleash a rocket.
“Our biggest competition right now is each other,” Loa said. “We have a lot of depth, when we scrimmage it’s very competitive because we’re all athletes and want to win.
“No position is secure. We don’t have starters. Anybody can take your spot. That’s a big thing, we all fight for spots.”
Height isn’t everything, the 6-foot 3 Loa knows, but Kamehameha figures to tower over its BIIF competition. Bridges-Hunter is 6-4, and “jumping out of the gym,” coach Sam Thomas said.
“He hits a really heavy ball, as does Chyston,” Thomas said. “Chase has really improved.”
Maka’ike, 6-1, is poised for a big season at outside hitter after making all-BIIF last season, but “he’s being challenged,” Thomas said. “There is a lot of other talent this year.”
The honorable mention returnees are Loa, Bridges-Hunter, third-year setter Davin Masanda, and junior hitter Keamalu Baclig. Senior Styles Primacio, a 6-1 opposite hitter, is eligible at Kamehameha after sitting out a season after transferring from Keaau High.
Add it all up, and Thomas says the Warriors look “decent” heading into their season-opener Wednesday at Honokaa.
In Kamehameha terms, decent usually means stellar bordering on brilliant. The Warriors made up for rare hiccup in 2018 by beating Hilo in four sets in last season’s BIIF Division I title game, earning its 10th league crown and fifth in six years.
Kamehameha’s biggest – if not only – BIIF competition likely will once again come from Hilo, which beat Kamehameha in the regular season last year, and Waiakea, which Kamehameha beat in four sets in the semifinals. Kamehameha will have to wait until April to see each of those two teams, though they have a scouting opportunity Friday night when Waiakea visits the Vikings.
“I expect challenges from Hilo and Waiakea,” Loa said. “They have a lot of good players. They have good, smart coaches, so do we. It will be a fun matchup when we play them.”
Kamehameha’s two big losses were all-BIIF libero Kamahao Kawelu as well as hitter Blake Baclig, but Thomas is excited about the dynamic Hooper can bring to libero.
“Our passing has been ‘decent,’ so we’ve been getting a lot of sets in the middle,” Thomas said.
Loa, naturally, thinks the Warriors can use their height in the middle to open things ups for their hitters and opposites, but he also realizes height isn’t to be taken for granted.
“You don’t need to be tall to be good in volleyball, you just have to put in the work,” Loa said. “In the offseason, during club with Pilipaa, we practice almost every single day. We put in work for hours and hours and it helps a lot.”
The play-all BIIF schedule means Kamehameha, with 12 of its 16 players having club experience, likely will face multiple games with minimal resistance.
That’s why it’s imperative the Warriors stay sharp at practice.
“You’re supposed to play every game like your’re playing Punahou,” Thomas said, referencing the eight-time state champion. “We try to keep the focus on our side of the net, no matter what we have across it. We try to be in the right positions and do the things we work on in practice.”
Ultimately, the Warriors want to grow to the point where they’re ready to play Punahou, which won four of the state finals at the expense of the Warriors.
“The goal is to not just to get to states, but get there and do something,” Thomas said.