Radford completes historic run in Division II boys volleyball

The final kill of Keani Kaneakua’s high school career was a history maker.

The Radford senior’s 25th of the match gave the Rams the school’s first state volleyball championship. It completed a comeback that took both teams to the limit, with Radford edging Kapaa 25-20, 22-25, 21-25, 25-23, 15-13 to capture the New City Nissan/HHSAA Boys Volleyball Division II title Saturday at Moanalua.

Kaneakua was also the Rams’ emotional leader.

“He’s been a leader ever since he was a sophomore and he got to Radford,” fifth-year head coach Melanie Toloumu said.

Toloumu is a curriculum coordinator at Radford, with biology as her specialty. It’s obvious she knows something about chemistry, too, the way she steadied and inspired her team during numerous timeouts when Kapaa threatened to complete the deal after taking a 2-1 lead in sets.

Kapaa had the early lead in the fifth-set race to 15, but never regained the lead after a Kaneakua dump shot made it 4-3. There were six ties after that, the last at 12-all, but an error and Kaneakua’s second-to-last kill set up his championship winner.

“We tried our best, but our mistakes kind of hurt us,” Kapaa senior outside hitter Felisi Hunt said. “And I’ve never seen a more talented player (than Kaneakua.)”

The Warriors (13-2) played their three state tournament matches in three different gyms, but coach Kapule Kaona did not use it as an excuse.

“We’re lucky our boys didn’t know any better,” Kaona said with a chuckle. “We have guys that are more athletes than volleyball players. Credit to both teams on a great match, but you could see the experience and craftiness (of Radford).”

The Rams (11-4) ended the season with a nine-match winning streak. The early adversity of a 2-4 start helped them become a team, Toloumu and Kaneakua both said.

“I think they got comfortable being the underdog and coming from behind,” Toloumu said. “There were a couple of turning points when we had a big injury in the Campbell match, and then when we played five sets against Waipahu and played through adversity.”

There was plenty to play through Saturday, as Kapaa was often one or two plays from taking over the match in the pivotal fourth set.

“I don’t know any other way than to just keep trying,” Kaneakua said. “I’ve always been this way.”

Emry Piturachsatit’s ace and the loudest block of the match of many by Curren Pope gave Kapaa a 5-1 lead. A few minutes later, JM Miyahira and JP Bucalo got the Rams to 11-9, and the crowd into it. A timeout did not cool off Bucalo, who immediately scored down the line again to cut the deficit to one. But Kapaa regained momentum, and Syren Burley’s kill made it 18-13.

But Radford steadied itself, and then went on a scoring spree starting with a Bucalo kill and continuing with Mark Kimo Villejo serving three more points to tie it at 19-all.

The teams traded figurative punches and timeouts, until the Rams got in two in a row: Villejo was in on a block, and then he dropped in a soft one at the net for the set-winner, deadlocking the match.

Pope, Hunt, Burley and Piturachsatit did most of the scoring in a third set that Radford never led after a 3-2 edge; Pope closed it out with a kill.

The Rams led the second set 19-15, and had many thinking sweep. But Piturachsatit scored on a variety of shots as the Warriors battled back. His kill to end a long rally with Kapaa ahead 24-21 was followed by a Pope set-winner.

Micah Kalima-Keohohina led the Rams’ early first-set surge with back-to-back kills. Three consecutive Kapaa errors let Radford gain control. Villejo found an open spot in the middle to make it 24-20, and Radford won the first set on a Kapaa hitting error.