To many poll voters, you have to beat the best to be the best.
With so few meaningful games so far in the fall season, defending state champions in football and volleyball have kept their holds on the top spot in the Star-Advertiser’s polls.
Punahou remains No. 1 in football while Kamehameha keeps the top spot in volleyball. Both teams have held those spots all season.
Star-Advertiser football poll:
1. Punahou, 2. Mililani, 3. Kahuku, 4. Kamehameha, 5. Farrington, 6. Campbell, 7. Leilehua, 8. Saint Louis, 9. Lahainaluna, 10. Hilo.
The Buffanblu started the season pressured by OIA champ Mililani, which had six voters consider it better than Punahou in the preseason poll and had the support grow to eight until Punahou throttled Saint Louis three weeks ago.
Kahuku and Leilehua are the biggest risers within the football poll, with the Red Raiders moving from No. 5 to No. 3 and the Mules going from No. 9 to No. 7. Kahuku has switched spots with Kamehameha every week for the past four weeks.
Split the polls into media and coaches polls, and the order doesn’t change at all except that the media has the Warriors and Red Raiders tied at No. 4 while the coaches give Kahuku a slight edge. The coaches have voted Kahuku over Kamehameha every week since the preseason poll.
Lahainaluna and Hilo received token support in the preseason poll, with the Lunas getting a No. 6 vote and Hilo receiving a No. 8 but little else. The neighbor-island powers have since risen into solid spots at No. 9 and No. 10 at the expense of Waianae and Kapolei.
Games between ranked teams this week include No. 2 Mililani vs. No. 6 Campbell on Friday and No. 4 Kamehameha vs. No. 8 Saint Louis on Saturday.
Star-Advertiser girls volleyball poll:
1. Kamehameha, 2. Punahou, 3. Iolani, 4. Moanalua, 5. Kamehameha-Hawaii, 6. Konawaena, 7. Kahuku, 8. Seabury Hall, 9. Hawaii Prep, 10. Mililani.
The girls volleyball poll has been just as consistent as the football poll, with voters waiting for defending state champ Kamehameha and runner-up Punahou to show some weakness.
The Buffanblu received a bump in the second poll after winning the Ann Kang tournament, getting six first-place votes after only two in the preseason tally, but voters took it back from them a week later when Kamehameha won its tournament.
Iolani passed Moanalua for third in the poll, and can strengthen the hold when it plays Punahou on Wednesday. OIA powers Kahuku and Mililani have dropped two spots each since the preaseason poll.
The most fluid part of the poll can be found at the bottom, where voters are completely unsure of what to expect. A total of 21 different schools received votes in the preseason poll and that number has stayed strong with 18 getting a mention four weeks into the season.
University gets the most love among the also-rans, but winless Mid-Pacific is right behind them. Pearl City jumped into the poll after beating Mililani, getting mentions from three different voters for the last spot.
Games between ranked teams this week involve No. 3 Iolani at No. 2 Punahou on Wednesday, But the OIA East might get a little shakeup on Wednesday when Kalaheo tangles with Moanalua and Farrington hosts Kahuku.
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