Moanalua OIA boys volleyball dynasty on line against Campbell – Spectrum News

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HONOLULU — The Moanalua boys volleyball dynasty survived another test from Mililani in the Oahu Interscholastic Association playoffs on Monday night.
Now Na Menehune must negotiate chaos.
The five-time defending Division I league champions will put their stack of titles on the line against unconventional Campbell in the 7 p.m. OIA final in Moanalua’s gym on Wednesday.
Radford and Pearl City will meet for the Division II title at the same site at 5:30 p.m.
Note: See below for more photos of Moanalua-Mililani in the OIA Division I boys volleyball semifinals.
Moanalua (13-0) has won 11 of the last 12 OIA D-I championships. All except the first in 2011 came under coach Alan Cabanting.
Mililani, which pushed Moanalua to its limits in a classic five-set final in 2024, appeared to be a threat once again in taking the first set of Monday’s semifinal meeting. But Na Menehune responded with force in a 23-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-15 decision in their home gym by tightening up their service game.
Led by 6-foot-5 middle Nick Jones, Moanalua won the blocks battle 15-6.
“Definitely, all our coaches have been telling us to work on our blocking, and we have (assistant) coach Keanu (Kawaa) working with the middle specifically to help us improve our block,” Jones, who registered nine total blocks and hit .500, told Spectrum OC16’s Jimmy Bender. “And just he’s telling me to press.”
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Lionel Gannon put down 17 kills and Ezekiel Afalava-Sablan added 15.
Of Wednesday’s championship test, Jones said, “It’s definitely a big legacy for what we’ve done.”
Campbell (10-3) shook up the bracket as the OIA West’s third seed, knocking off top West seed and previously unbeaten Aiea, 25-18, 25-21, 18-25, 25-16 in Monday’s nightcap.
Julius Momoe-Mitchell registered 22 kills and 12 digs and Iverson Kuresa added 13 kills as the Sabers hit .301 to Aiea’s .206.
The Sabers’ unorthodox attack has been described as “organized chaos.”
“It starts at the pass first, and mainly communication,” Momoe-Mitchell told Bender. “Without it, then we wouldn’t know where we’re at.”
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The Sabers reached their first OIA title match since 2008 in Division II. That is Campbell’s only title to date in the sport.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.

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