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There were more than a few fans who expected nothing out of Moanalua against Punahou’s dynasty on Saturday night.
The common utterance? Sweep.
Moanalua paid no mind, coming back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to shock top-seeded and defending champion Punahou 14-25, 25-18, 18-25, 25-19, 15-13 to capture its first boys volleyball state championship. Moanalua also became the first public school to win the title since Roosevelt in 1979. Punahou had won 11 of the past 12 state championships played. There was no tournament in 2020 and 2021.
“Fifteen years, we finally did it! Four tries, and we finally made it happen,” Moanalua coach Alan Cabanting said. “I feel great. This group knew that team is a big factor and everybody has to contribute. Through the fourth and fifth sets, when we needed our outsides to go, they went. When we needed our opposites and middles to attack, they contributed enough to ensure that Punahou had to keep attackers in the front row at all times.”
Lionel Gannon drilled 18 kills (.250) and fellow senior Jarryn McCutcheon tallied 17 (.256) to spark Moanalua (17-6 overall).
“Today, we had a serve and pass (light workout) I told Jarryn if you’re going to have a bad game, yesterday was a good day to have it (in the semifinals),” Cabanting said. “Your team stepped up and still got us a win, and today we’ve got to play.”
Down 2-1 in the match, Moanalua’s resolve was unwavering.
“We knew since before the game we could play with anyone in the state. We’ve played good competition all through the season,” Gannon said. “When we were down, we did a mental reset. They were digging a lot of balls and we needed to capitalize on the opportunities we were getting. We were able to get some great plays from our libero, Darric (Abe).”
ILH champion Punahou finished a stellar season at 21-5. Cameron Porter accounted for 25 kills (.306) while Tanoa Scanlan had 15 kills (.184). Porter was especially hot in the opening set.
Under coach Rick Tune, Punahou has won 13 state titles since 2009.
“We had some great play on both sides, some big moments at the net. Some controversy, a delay. We had a little bit of everything,” Tune said. “Moanalua earned that. They played their best match of the season and I think they will tell you that, too. They did some things tonight that they haven’t done all year. Hawaii volleyball, you always want to push each other to be the best you can be. We’re happy that we pushed Moanalua and they evolved into their best version.”
Christian Cruz led Moanalua setters with 20 assists. Abe led the back row with 14 digs. Vaolele Puka Tauane added nine kills, Taylor Chung tallied seven kills and freshman Jerome Obrero had five kills
Nahua Lloyd (.500) and Noah Usher (.538) chipped in seven kills apiece for Punahou. Scanlan had a team-high 13 digs, while libero William Nitehammer had 10 digs.
As a team, Punahou hit .310. Moanalua finished at .302 despite a slow start. The final set was clutch play by Moanalua.
Moanalua opened the final set with kills by McCutcheon and Gannon. After Jett Filisi got a piece of a Porter swing, Gannon’s next swing gave Na Menehune a 3-0 lead.
Three plays later, Gannon won a joust to open Moanalua’s lead to 5-1. Punahou called time out.
A roof by Porter on Gannon put out the fire temporarily. Moanalua went right back to the senior, Gannon, who elevated over Keola Todd-Perry for a 6-2 cushion. He added a kill from the right side, and after a tip kill by McCutcheon, Moanalua led 8-4.
Punahou got within 8-6, but a roof by Obrero on Porter stopped momentum for a moment. Gannon’s back-row kill pushed the lead to 10-7.
A dump kill by Akana cut the lead to two, but Gannon stepped up with a right-side slam for an 11-8 lead.
Nickolaus Olivas’ service error gave Punahou a break, but Porter also committed a service error. An off-target set by Kawaa let Punahou cut the lead to 12-10, but another Gannon kill made it 13-10
Lloyd came through with a kill from the middle and it was 13-11, but another Gannon’s right-side kill made it 14-11.
Scanlan cut it to 14-12 with his final kill.
McCutcheon, an unsolvable piece for Punahou, ended the drama with an uncontested kill.
“We prepared very hard by watching film, taking notes and learning how to hit high and hard throughout the season,” McCutcheon said.
Moanalua eluded ILH runner-up Mid-Pacific in the semifinal round on Thursday. The lightning storm of Friday afternoon forced a postponement, but a capacity crowd at Pearl City High School gym saw plenty of electricity by the team in blue. The title match had a strange vibe without live TV coverage due to the suddenness of the postponement.
On Friday, Moanalua was on its bus heading to Laie — the finals were scheduled for BYU-Hawaii’s Cannon Activities Center — but had barely reached Red Hill when the call came from the HHSAA about the postponement.
“We ate dinner and a couple of the kids, their parents were stuck in traffic, so we waited with them,” Cabanting said.
The extra day of rest after a tough MPI match didn’t hurt.
Hawaii Prep World
For high school sports record books, visit .
Continue reading...
The common utterance? Sweep.
Moanalua paid no mind, coming back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to shock top-seeded and defending champion Punahou 14-25, 25-18, 18-25, 25-19, 15-13 to capture its first boys volleyball state championship. Moanalua also became the first public school to win the title since Roosevelt in 1979. Punahou had won 11 of the past 12 state championships played. There was no tournament in 2020 and 2021.
“Fifteen years, we finally did it! Four tries, and we finally made it happen,” Moanalua coach Alan Cabanting said. “I feel great. This group knew that team is a big factor and everybody has to contribute. Through the fourth and fifth sets, when we needed our outsides to go, they went. When we needed our opposites and middles to attack, they contributed enough to ensure that Punahou had to keep attackers in the front row at all times.”
Lionel Gannon drilled 18 kills (.250) and fellow senior Jarryn McCutcheon tallied 17 (.256) to spark Moanalua (17-6 overall).
“Today, we had a serve and pass (light workout) I told Jarryn if you’re going to have a bad game, yesterday was a good day to have it (in the semifinals),” Cabanting said. “Your team stepped up and still got us a win, and today we’ve got to play.”
Down 2-1 in the match, Moanalua’s resolve was unwavering.
“We knew since before the game we could play with anyone in the state. We’ve played good competition all through the season,” Gannon said. “When we were down, we did a mental reset. They were digging a lot of balls and we needed to capitalize on the opportunities we were getting. We were able to get some great plays from our libero, Darric (Abe).”
ILH champion Punahou finished a stellar season at 21-5. Cameron Porter accounted for 25 kills (.306) while Tanoa Scanlan had 15 kills (.184). Porter was especially hot in the opening set.
Under coach Rick Tune, Punahou has won 13 state titles since 2009.
“We had some great play on both sides, some big moments at the net. Some controversy, a delay. We had a little bit of everything,” Tune said. “Moanalua earned that. They played their best match of the season and I think they will tell you that, too. They did some things tonight that they haven’t done all year. Hawaii volleyball, you always want to push each other to be the best you can be. We’re happy that we pushed Moanalua and they evolved into their best version.”
Christian Cruz led Moanalua setters with 20 assists. Abe led the back row with 14 digs. Vaolele Puka Tauane added nine kills, Taylor Chung tallied seven kills and freshman Jerome Obrero had five kills
Nahua Lloyd (.500) and Noah Usher (.538) chipped in seven kills apiece for Punahou. Scanlan had a team-high 13 digs, while libero William Nitehammer had 10 digs.
As a team, Punahou hit .310. Moanalua finished at .302 despite a slow start. The final set was clutch play by Moanalua.
Moanalua opened the final set with kills by McCutcheon and Gannon. After Jett Filisi got a piece of a Porter swing, Gannon’s next swing gave Na Menehune a 3-0 lead.
Three plays later, Gannon won a joust to open Moanalua’s lead to 5-1. Punahou called time out.
A roof by Porter on Gannon put out the fire temporarily. Moanalua went right back to the senior, Gannon, who elevated over Keola Todd-Perry for a 6-2 cushion. He added a kill from the right side, and after a tip kill by McCutcheon, Moanalua led 8-4.
Punahou got within 8-6, but a roof by Obrero on Porter stopped momentum for a moment. Gannon’s back-row kill pushed the lead to 10-7.
A dump kill by Akana cut the lead to two, but Gannon stepped up with a right-side slam for an 11-8 lead.
Nickolaus Olivas’ service error gave Punahou a break, but Porter also committed a service error. An off-target set by Kawaa let Punahou cut the lead to 12-10, but another Gannon kill made it 13-10
Lloyd came through with a kill from the middle and it was 13-11, but another Gannon’s right-side kill made it 14-11.
Scanlan cut it to 14-12 with his final kill.
McCutcheon, an unsolvable piece for Punahou, ended the drama with an uncontested kill.
“We prepared very hard by watching film, taking notes and learning how to hit high and hard throughout the season,” McCutcheon said.
Moanalua eluded ILH runner-up Mid-Pacific in the semifinal round on Thursday. The lightning storm of Friday afternoon forced a postponement, but a capacity crowd at Pearl City High School gym saw plenty of electricity by the team in blue. The title match had a strange vibe without live TV coverage due to the suddenness of the postponement.
On Friday, Moanalua was on its bus heading to Laie — the finals were scheduled for BYU-Hawaii’s Cannon Activities Center — but had barely reached Red Hill when the call came from the HHSAA about the postponement.
“We ate dinner and a couple of the kids, their parents were stuck in traffic, so we waited with them,” Cabanting said.
The extra day of rest after a tough MPI match didn’t hurt.
Hawaii Prep World
For high school sports record books, visit .
Continue reading...
