State DI Volleyball Championships Start Friday

Waiakea High School and Kamehameha-Hawai’i will begin their quests at a first-ever state championship in girls volleyball as the New City Nissan/Hawai’i High School Athletic Association Girls Volleyball Championships begin on Friday.

Kamehameha-Hawai’i, ranked fourth in the latest Honolulu Star-Advertiser Top 10 poll, will travel to Maui for the double-regional round. KS-Hawai’i defeated Waiakea Saturday night at Onizuka Gymnasium in Kealakekua to win the Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division I Championship and secure a first-round bye in this weekend’s tournament.

Set scores in the BIIF Division I title game were 25-17, 25-11, and 25-19.

For the first time, girls and boys volleyball will be a part of the HHSAA’s double-regional format. Champions from the BIIF and Maui Interscholastic League will host a double-regional on Maui, while Oahu Interscholastic Association and Interscholastic League of Honolulu winners will remain on Oahu for a similar double-regional.

Winners of each regional will advance to next week’s “Final Four.” Semifinal games will be played on Nov. 7 at McKinley High School. The championship match will be held at the Neal Blaisdell Center on Nov. 8.

Kamehameha-Hawai’i, seeded third in the 12-team tournament, will face the winner of Friday’s Punahou/Nanakuli matchup at 4 p.m. Saturday on the campus of Kamehameha-Maui.

Punahou, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu runner-up, lost in the championship game last year to Kamehameha-Kapalama. The match was held at Kamehameha-Hawai’i’s Koai’a Gym. The Buffanblu finished the 2014 season with a 12-3 record. All three losses came at the hands of the defending state champions.

Nanakuli (9-4 overall, 8-2 OIA West) enters the state tourney on a two-match losing streak. Both losses came against tournament teams in Mililani and Moanalua.

Waiakea (12-4) will travel to Oahu for Friday’s opening round game against Mililani, the OIA’s third-place representative. The match can be seen on OC16’s XCast, available on Oceanic Time Warner Cable digital channel HD1020. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The reward for the Waiakea/Mililani winner? A date with the defending champions on Saturday at 7 p.m. The ILH-champion Warriors won all 15 of its matches this season. It’s last win was a five-set thriller over the Buffanblu on Thursday.

All games held on Oahu will be at Moanalua High School. Saturday’s match between KS-Kapalama and the winner of the Waiakea/Mililani match will be played at 7 p.m. and also televised on Oceanic Cable’s HD1020.

Moanalua, the OIA champion, was seeded second in the tournament. Na Menehune finished the season with a 14-0 record, but narrowly avoided its first loss of the year Friday in the OIA title game against Kapolei. Moanalua held a 2-0 set lead but watched it wash away before taking the fifth set 15-13.

Moanalua will face either Kahuku or Kamehameha-Maui on Saturday at 5 p.m. Oceanic Cable’s HD1020 will broadcast the match, as well as Friday’s 5 p.m. contest between the Red Raiders and Warriors.

Maui Interscholastic League champion King Kekaulike got the fourth and final seed in the tournament. The only traveling Na Alii will be doing is on island to the Kamehameha-Maui. King Kekaulike will face the winner of Friday’s Kapolei/Castle match at 6 p.m. Saturday.

The Division II brackets will be released once all leagues complete their tournaments. In the BIIF, Konawaena swept Hawai’i Preparatory Academy to win the league championship Saturday night.

New City Nissan/HHSAA Division I Girls Volleyball Championship schedule

Friday

Matches held at Moanalus HS

Kamehemaha-Maui vs. Kahuku – 5 p.m.

Waiakea vs. Mililani – 7 p.m.

Matches held at Kamehameha-Maui

Kapolei vs. Castle – 5 p.m.

Punahou vs. Nanakuli – 7 p.m.

Saturday

Matches held at Kamehameha-Maui

Kapolei/Castle loser vs. Punahou/Nanakuli loser – 2:30 p.m.

Punahou/Nanakuli winner vs. #3 Kamehameha-Hawai’i – 4 p.m.

Kapolei/Castle winner vs. #4 King Kekaulike – 6 p.m.

Matches held at Moanalua HS

KS-Maui/Kahuku loser vs. Waiakea/Mililani loser – 3:30 p.m.

KS-Maui/Kahuku winner vs. #2 Moanalua – 5 p.m.

Waiakea/Mililani winner vs. #1 Kamehameha-Kapalama – 7 p.m.