HONOLULU — All business. All defense.
That was how Iolani returned to prominence in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu girls volleyball this season and how the Raiders finished the job in the HHSAA Division I championships with a sweep of upstart Kamehameha-Hawaii on Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Raiders won their fourth championship in school history, and first since 2018, by turning to the smallest player on the floor, 5-foot-2 libero Tessa Onaga, to keep the floor clean. The senior popped up 34 balls in three sets to lead a 98-dig effort by Iolani, which had five players tally in double digits in the 25-18, 25-17, 25-22 outcome in front of hundreds of screaming diehards of Raider Nation.
There was little flash about the way the Raiders went about it — but the results were undeniable as they hit a serviceable .168 to the BIIF champs’ .018.
Preceding the match, Le Jardin rode, in contrast, a fun-loving attitude to a five-set win over Hawaii Baptist in the Division II championship.
Iolani broke through for its first state title in 2001 under the legendary Ann Kang. The Raiders (14-1) have now prevailed in three of the last six state tournaments under Kainoa Obrey – but this was the first time they did so as the top seed and the group with the biggest target.
Obrey said he left it up to his senior class to set the tone and personality for the season. Seniors Brooke Naniseni and Onaga, in turn, pointed to hitter Senna Roberts-Navarro in the wake of the team celebration as the understated but effective leader.
“It was more businesslike, I could say, than anything,” Obrey said. “But that’s their personality, and we just kind of rolled with it and we got to this point.”
The emotions flowed afterward as players hugged and cried, and the team cheered at its rowdy supporters. Obrey offered them a yell and a big fist pump.
Roberts-Navarro, usually a wrecking ball at the left pin, did less damage than usual with 10 kills on 50 swings, but the hitter Naniseni picked her up with 16 kills on 45 swings (.200). Middles Mari Lawton and Callie Pieper contributed 16 huge kills.
It came down to defense as KS-Hawaii, looking to extend its postseason magic, dug up 81 balls itself. Libero Leisey Kelii had 20.
Fittingly, Onaga, who began her varsity career as a team manager, was named tournament Most Outstanding Player. Her coach called her the “best libero in the state” afterward.
“It feels like I just made it,” Onaga said after being informed that. “Validation from a coach is just everything you want.”
The Raiders nullified the Warriors’ best attacker, Maela Honma, holding her to five kills and eight errors on 51 swings. Potent 6-foot-1 middle Taina Kaauwai had just four kills on 18 attempts.
It was the first state final since 2002 that did not feature two ILH teams. That was courtesy of KSH, which dispatched Punahou in a three-set stunner in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
That got Iolani’s attention.
“Definitely the middles we knew were a threat, and the outside,” Onaga said. “We kind of just made a game plan about it today. We tried to execute it. They have fast hitters, but we just tried to get our block on it quick and it worked out.”
Obrey said the team’s entire plan revolved around Onaga.
“We’re asking her to pass about half the court on serve-receive,” he said. “We’re setting up our block so that it goes to her so that we have a higher percentage of digging the ball. We know they hit a good, solid angle shot. But when you get dug on your good stuff – and we feel it too sometimes – it gets frustrating as an attacker. She’s able to do that to attackers, make them change their shots and try to hit somewhere else. I’m proud of her growth and her maturity.”
KSH coach Guy Enriques lamented unforced errors at critical times; the Warriors held leads of three points in the middle of Sets 2 and 3.
His team’s service game was not as effective as usual at discouraging its opponent from running its middles, he noted.
The Warriors (18-1), in coming the closest of any Big Island team in a long while to winning it all – Hilo was the last to do so in 1974 – had one of their most special seasons as they went unbeaten through league play and won a prestigious mainland tournament.
“What a journey. It was a great journey, one of the best I can think about,” Enriques said. “The girls grew tremendously in the three months we’ve had them.”
Le Jardin gets redemption
The gauntlet that is the ILH Division II girls volleyball scene requires focus at all times.
The Le Jardin Bulldogs found a way to ease the tension and achieve the third Division II state championship in program history.
“I think the main thing people need to understand with this group is they were a lot of fun in the gym,” coach Lee Lamb said. “They’re working hard, but it was lots of laughs. It was such a great season, a memorable season.”
Ending it with a 25-17, 25-16, 25-27, 19-25, 15-8 win over Hawaii Baptist was about as sweet as possible for a senior-laden group.
The Bulldogs, which won it all in D-II in 2016 and 2017, fell in the state final in two of the past three editions of the tournament and sought redemption all season in going 17-0.
Tournament MVP Reese Diersbock, the tourney Most Outstanding Player, put down 31 kills on 75 swings (.293) and had 19 digs. Her partner in crime, Sydnee Walker, added 27 kills on 51 swings (.286) as they combined for all but 12 of their team’s putdowns.
“Going in, the goal was to play for each other, not for anything else,” Walker said. “It was redemption, in a way.”
The five-set loss to University Lab in last year’s final remained on the team’s mind in that it served as a bonding experience. Le Jardin lost only one senior from that team.
Diersbock, who is verbally committed to play for UC Davis next season, said, “Since last states, my team has gotten way closer, and we were able to execute quicker and better than we were able to last year. We’re all really close at school and outside of school, and so that helps benefit how we execute and play all over.”
That helped them reset after dropping Sets 4 and 5 on Friday.
HBA hadn’t taken a set off of LJA all season, but broke through in Set 3 by building a 10-point lead and holding on tight in extra points when the Bulldogs rallied to tie it at 24.
Coach Myles Shioji said he went to a 6-2 offense and put a bigger blocker up to counter the 5-foot-11 Diersbock.
Shioji credited his young core for mounting a last stand against a team that’d had its number. HBA (11-8) qualified as the third-place ILH team and was part of an all-ILH state semifinals.
“We let the moment get to us in the first two sets. We did a lot better in Sets 3 and 4,” the 17-year coach said.
Hitter Marisa Nakata led the Eagles with 30 kills on 73 swings, hitting .301.
Some more photos of the Division I and II championships:
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.