Big Island boys volleyball teams fall early at state tournament despite strong season

Pāhoa came within two points of forcing a quarterfinal upset, but the Big Island left Oahu without a team still alive in the final rounds. Four BIIF boys volleyball squads qualified for the May 13-15 HHSAA state championships, yet Pāhoa, Konawaena, Kamehameha-Hawaii and Kaū were all knocked out early.

Pāhoa, the BIIF Division II champion, produced the closest Big Island match of the tournament. After dropping the first two sets to Hana, the Daggers fought back to force a fifth before falling 17-15, then lost to Kapolei in the consolation bracket. Ryden Devaney anchored the offense with a strong assist night, and Pāhoa had multiple double-digit kill performances, but the final points showed how thin the margin is once island champions meet state-level pressure.

Konawaena’s exit was more abrupt, but the Wildcats’ season still carried weight. Konawaena finished BIIF play 12-0 and swept Kamehameha-Hawaii 25-17, 26-25, 25-22 to claim the Division I title, then ran into a Mililani team that swept them at states. The result did not erase a perfect island record; it showed the jump from BIIF dominance to a state bracket where depth, pace and week-to-week competition are different.

Kamehameha-Hawaii, the BIIF Division I runner-up, was swept by Hawaii Baptist, 25-18, 25-23 and 25-22. Hawaii Baptist leaned on Jason Rivers, who finished with 23 kills, along with Aaron Woolpert’s 21 assists and Tanner Hankey’s 12 digs. Kaū opened its Division II state match against Pearl City with a 26-24 set win, but then dropped the next three, 14-25, 10-25 and 19-25. Karsen Polido-Tuaifaiva posted 12 kills and 10 digs, while Emil Soriano added 29 assists.

The bigger story is not that the BIIF sent four teams to states, but that it did so in both divisions and still could not break through. Pāhoa’s first Big Island boys volleyball title since 2012, a five-set win over Kaū at Keaau gym on May 3, and Konawaena’s unbeaten BIIF run show the island’s top programs are strong. To close the gap with Oahu powers such as Mililani, Hawaii Baptist and Pearl City, BIIF schools will need more roster depth, more matchups against high-end opposition and more resources to handle the travel and tournament grind that comes with the state stage.