Buffanblu cruise into final

Three-time defending champions to face ILH-rival Raiders in D-I title match

By ROBERT COLLIAS, Staff Writer
PUKALANI — It was definitely tougher than one night earlier, but the feeling for the Punahou School boys volleyball team was the same — the Buffanblu look like they can do what they want when they want on the court.

The No. 1 seeds rolled to a 25-18, 25-17 win over Roosevelt in the semifinals of the New City Nissan Division I State Championships at the King Kekaulike gym on Friday. Tonight at 7, the Buffanblu will go for their fourth straight title and 28th in the last 36 years against Interscholastic League of Honolulu rival Iolani, a 25-23, 27-25 winner over Kamehameha Oahu in the other semifinal.

The Buffanblu (18-0), behind the acrobatic setting of Erik Shoji, dominated the Rough Riders (16-2) from the middle on Friday.

‘‘We had a size advantage in the middle and we wanted to go after it,’’ Punahou coach Rick Tune said. ‘‘It seems like all the teams we face give us their best effort, so it is a real challenge. I will say this: I don’t think we have played our best match yet. This was a good match to tune up for tomorrow night.’’

Shoji had 17 assists, four kills, and two aces, one night after he racked up 10 aces in one game against Lahainaluna.

A five-point Shoji service run gave Punahou a 6-0 lead in the first game and a four-point Shoji service run made it 5-0 to begin the second game.

The closest Roosevelt would get in Game 1 was three points at 6-3, and the closest the Rough Riders got in Game 2 was 10-6.

‘‘We feel like every team is is going to come out against us with a lot of energy, a certain firepower,’’ Shoji said. ‘‘I know if I can keep my serves in it is a definite advantage for us if we get ahead and break their spirits a little bit.’’

One week after finishing third in state doubles tennis, Shoji, the son of University of Hawaii women’s volleyball coach Dave Shoji, said he is all about volleyball now. He was a state doubles champion as a junior last season — and his partner each of the last two seasons was Alex Ching, who won the state golf title this year.

‘‘I am definitely all about volleyball right now,’’ said Shoji, who will attend Stanford University in the fall on a volleyball scholarship to play libero. ‘‘I pretty much split practice time between the two sports this season, but down the stretch it was more volleyball because of the team aspect. We have to be ready for tomorrow and I think we will be.’’

Shoji’s sets helped Henry Cassiday and Taylor Crabb each pile up seven kills, while Jeremy Kaimikaua had five. Marcus Miyabara had eight digs for the Buffanblu.

‘‘They are just a great team in every aspect,’’ Roosevelt coach Kaui Mendonca said. ‘‘We had some small runs, but we just couldn’t keep up with them in the long run.’’

Tune had a chilling thought for the Raiders in tonight’s championship match. The mighty Buffanblu carry six sophomores and two freshmen on their 16-player roster.

‘‘There is no doubt in my mind that we will play our best match of the year tomorrow night,’’ he said. ‘‘They have done nothing all year to make me think any different.’’

• Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com