The last time a Maui Interscholastic League team reached the semifinals of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Division I girls Volleyball state tournament was 2016.
The seven-year drought for the MIL came to an end Wednesday night as Baldwin High School registered a four-set victory over Kapolei in a D-I quarterfinal at the Moanalua gym in Honolulu. The Bears rallied after dropping the first set, 22-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-19.
Ariana Naipo had a match-high 16 kills, the final one coming on match point that sent the MIL champion Bears (14-1) to a 7 p.m. semifinal tonight against top-seeded Kamehameha Kapalama. The Warriors advanced earlier in the night with a 25-14, 25-16, 25-23 victory over Moanalua.
The other semifinal pits second-seeded Kamehameha Hawaii against Punahou at 5 p.m. Both semifinals at Moanalua will be televised on OC16.
Ariana Naipo also finished with eight digs. Amanda Naipo added 12 kills and 10 digs, Kuulei Manaois had nine kills and four blocks, and Imani-Malie Hargis recorded eight kills — hitting .615 — and four blocks for the Bears. Setter Lilinoe Paschoal dished out 40 assists to go with six kills, and libero Natronai Anana posted 17 digs.
Baldwin held a slim lead late in the back-and-forth first set, 22-21 on a block by Manaois and Paschoal. But the Hurricanes (12-3) scored four straight points to take the opener.
Baldwin found its groove midway through the second set, getting separation at 13-9 after a four-point run. The Bears extended their lead to 17-12 on a solo block by Manaois.
After fending off a couple of rallies from the Hurricanes, the Bears put the second set away with a laser shot to the center of the court by Amanda Naipo and a shot from the middle by Hargis.
The Bears took control in the early part of the third, eventually leading 21-12 en route to going up two sets to one. It was much of the same in the fourth with Baldwin opening up a 16-10 lead. They didn’t allow the Hurricanes to get closer than four points the rest of the match.
Malinah Purcell-Telefoni had 15 kills for Kapolei.
The last MIL team to make the D-I final four was King Kekaulike in 2016, a squad coached by current Baldwin coach Al Paschoal.
In the Division II tournament, MIL champion Seabury Hall, the No. 3 seed, dropped its quarterfinal against University Lab 25-17, 25-19, 27-25 at Kaimuki.
Makalani Carey led the Spartans (14-1) with nine kills. She also had four digs, two blocks and an ace. Sofia Connor added seven kills, seven digs, a block and an ace; Bella Palmer had 20 assists, five digs, four aces and a pair of kills; Makena Ruegsegger added five blocks and two kills; and Harmony Powers dug up 11 balls and served up two aces.
Seabury will face Waialua in a fifth-place semifinal at 6:30 p.m. tonight at Kaimuki.
Liliana Dutcher led the Jr. Bows (10-5) with 10 kills.
At Kalani, MIL D-II runner-up Maui Prep fell to top-seeded Mid-Pacific 25-10, 25-3, 25-17 in a quarterfinal.
Lauren Brown had five kills and Ashley Davis had eight assists to lead Na Pueo (12-4), who face Hawaii Prep in a 5 p.m. fifth-place semifinal today. Nikko Stack had seven kills for the Owls (10-4).
With the Jr. Bows’ and Owls’ wins over the MIL teams, the D-II final four is an all-Interscholastic League of Honolulu affair — Hawaii Baptist and Damien won their quarterfinals earlier in the night.
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