The return of Waipahu girls volleyball to title town was just 51 years in the making.
Junior Aliya Ilaoa led the way with 17 kills, three blocks and one ace as third-seeded Waipahu stunned top-seeded Kaiser 25-21, 26-28, 25-20, 22-25, 15-13 in the final of the OIA Division II girls volleyball playoffs.
Te‘a Suan tallied 13 kills while Ariah Apostol had nine kills and a key ace in the final set. Freshman Zanirah Fidow drilled eight kills and Maiya Beltran added seven kills for Waipahu (14-10 overall).
Junior setter Justice Malacas dished 42 assists.
Ilaoa is the daughter of Sanoe Ilaoa and her father is former UH football player Nate Ilaoa. Sanoe Ilaoa played for current Waipahu coach Sheri Sagayaga when she was at Moanalua.
“These girls, they dug really deep. They went beyond our expectations,” said Sagayaga, who guided Moanalua to a league title in 2000, and Radford to a D-II OIA title in 2005. “I’m very thankful for these girls giving 100%. I knew at the beginning of the season it was going to be tough coming in from different clubs. Then we went to Vegas (to play in the Liberty High School tournament) and we came together as one.”
For a good stretch of the final set, Kaiser took full command. Ka‘ele Kuamo‘o roofed Ilaoa’s one-handed volley and Amaral-Boyd sliced a perfect cross-court kill to open a 5-3 lead for Kaiser. Then it was a Naia Egami kill, Leia Nishida ace, Hatesa Sopoaga right-side kill to open the lead to 8-3.
After handling the serve well most of the night, Waipahu struggled to get into system at the worst time. Kills by Amaral-Boyd and Sopoaga helped extend the lead to 12-5.
Waipahu scored the next three points, but Egami came through with a crucial kill. The Marauders’ 8-1 run tied the game at 13-all. An ace by Apostol kept the run going, and Ilaoa’s kill tied it.
Serenity Bajet-Kalauokaaea’s kill gave Waipahu the lead, and Ilaoa’s final killed capped a stunning 10-1 run to end the match.
Emma Amaral-Boyd, a 6-foot-4 junior, hammered 27 kills to lead Kaiser (14-6 overall). Egami tallied 19 kills and Sopoaga chipped in five kills.
Mylah-Ann Burgess Heely had 24 assists, three aces and two kills. Leia Nishida had 18 assists and one ace.
“I give Waipahu credit. They came back from 12-5. That’s an incredible thing. We had the momentum, they got it back and that’s all she wrote,” Kaiser coach Scott Young said. “For us, we’ve got a great team. We’ve got to stick together. We still have something to play for. We can do a good job at states and go far if we stick together.”
The New City Nissan/HHSAA Girls Volleyball D-II State Championships begin on Tuesday.
Waipahu’s only other OIA championship was in 1975 under coach Rudy Sambrano.
“I remember him. He’s very passionate about the sport. When I grew up with him, he was always a positive coach and person. He’s never, ever said anything bad,” Sagayaga said.
An energetic packed house at Radford’s James Alegre Gymnasium saw Waipahu play its best match of the season. The title match was a big change from the first meeting between the teams. That OIA season opener was a 25-15, 25-20, 25-19 sweep by Kaiser, which was unbeaten in league play.
This time, Waipahu was the team with more depth, more weapons and an x-factor in freshman reserve Fidow. Recently called up from the junior varsity team, Fidow is a tall, athletic, explosive, bonus weapon Kaiser didn’t quite have a counter to.
Waipahu went on an 11-3 run to open an 18-12 lead in the opening set.
Kaiser settled in and rallied to within 19-18 with Amaral-Boyd hammering away at Waipahu’s defense.
Waipahu then scored the next four points. Bajet-Kalauokaaea then put the first set away with a right-side kill.
In set two, Kaiser rallied from a 5-0 deficit to take an 8-7 lead, but the Cougars had a frozen moment with the score 12-10. A hustle play beyond the back line led to a high bump to the middle of the court, where four Cougars let the ball fall.
That rejuvenated the Marauders. who had limitless energy on the court and from their very loud fans all night. With Nishida at serve, Kaiser caught a little spark and took a 20-18 lead.
The battle extended to 26-all, when Amaral-Boyd pounded consecutive kills to even the match at 1-all.
Amaral-Boyd continued her hot hand in the third set with five more kills while Kaiser took a 9-6 lead.
Fidow took her first swings for Waipahu, connecting on two kills to help the Marauders regain the lead, 13-12. Kaiser went up 19-17 and seemed to have momentum, but the freshman, Fidow, roofed Amaral-Boyd, and Ilaoa delivered an ace to give Waipahu a 20-19 lead.
Kaiser called time out, but Waipahu scored four of the next five points. Fidow had a right-side kill while Amaral-Boyd uncharacteristically had two hitting errors as the Marauders opened the lead to 24-20.
With Suan at serve, Waipahu closed out the third set.
Waipahu zoomed to a 5-0 lead in set four as Kaiser, the much taller team, began to look like the more fatigued squad in the humid gym.
Sopoaga came alive with two kills in the fourth set, and her roof on Caitlyn Bolibol helped the Cougars open a 22-20 lead.
Amaral-Boyd’s roof on Ilaoa ended the set, tying the match at 2-all.