Winners of the last three state championships combined, ‘Iolani and Kamehameha open the season highly regarded as two of the top teams in the country.
Both schools are ranked higher in the first Max Preps Xcellent 25 released today than they are in the first USA Today Super 25. The Raiders open at No. 11 with the Warriors at No. 13.
‘Iolani, which won the Ann Kang Invitational for the second year in a row, dropped only one set in nine wins in the tournament. The Raiders swept Buchanan (Clovis, Calif.) in the final after going three sets against the Bears on the first day of the tournament.
Kamehameha opened its season winning the 15th annual Hawaiian Volleyball Invitational on Aug. 18. The Warriors also went 9-0 and dropped only one set in the tournament. Kamehameha swept Moanalua, Waianae and then Mililani in the final to win the title.
Le Jardin finished third, ahead of Waianae, Moanalua and Dimond (Alaska), which rounded out the top six.
Kamehameha was ranked No. 15 and ‘Iolani was No. 21 in the first USA Today Super 25.
The Raiders open their ILH season hosting Punahou on Saturday while Kamehameha begins defense of its state championship on Sept. 4 against the Buffanblu.
Can the OIA and ILH merge so that our OIA girls/boys can play top notch opponents and improve their volleyball IQ on a weekly basis too?????
Or is merging leagues only beneficial when the ILH football coaches need to improve their schedules and competition. Hypocrites!! and crybabys!!
Mainland will guess who the higher ranked team is, but in Hawaii, we know that warrior is on the top until someone beats them. Punahou the sleeper this year!
Sorry but the Hawai Invitational this year was not at all competitive.
Kam’s win was assured and EASY, so doesn’t really mean much.
Iolani’s Ann Kang victory had them compete against some really good mainland teams. T hat win is of a different caliber.
@Jim Diamond
If MaxPreps took into account who is the defending champ and which players they’re returning, Kamehameha should be ranked ahead on any poll. Until either team drops a game or Iolani wins a head to head matchup, locals know Iolani is 2nd fiddle right now.
Yeah, Local Boi, every season is a new season. We’ll see what Kam can do this year. Until that happens, last year really is last year’s news.
This year, Iolani beat out a bunch of super sharp teams.
Kam beat Mililani.
Well the last head to head said Kamehameha was better. Until I see otherwise, Iolani can enjoy the same spot they’ve had all off season… Numero dos.
Iolani numero UNO!!!!!
Kam, oh well, Local Boi:-(