Unblemished: Punahou, Huntington Beach lead pools at Clash of Titans

By Paul Honda on April 16, 2022 | Boys volleyball, Featured, Video
Punahou is off to a strong start at the Clash of the Titans tournament with a 2-0 record in pool play. Paul Honda/Star-Advertiser.

The first day of the annual Clash of the Titans was perfect for host Punahou and powerhouse Huntington Beach (Calif.).

The Oilers got past ‘Iolani in five sets, then eked out a four-set win over rival Redondo Union (Calif.). Punahou swept Francis Parker (Calif.) and Moanalua. Pool play resumes with matches at 10 a.m. and noon on Saturday. Matches at 5 p.m. will be followed by the championship and third-place matches at 7 p.m. in Hemmeter Fieldhouse.

See the first-day story in Saturday’s online edition of the Star-Advertiser.

Friday’s results

Pool A

Punahou def. Francis Parker (Calif.) 27-25, 25-16, 25-21

KS-Hawaii def. Moanalua 25-23, 31-29, 21-25, 25-19

Francis Parker (Calif.) def. KS-Hawaii 25-17, 25-18, 25-20

Punahou def. Moanalua 25-12, 25-18, 25-19

Pool B

Huntington Beach (Calif.) def. ‘Iolani 25-15, 25-14, 25-27, 16-25, 15-8

Redondo Union (Calif.) def. Kamehameha 25-15, 23-25, 32-30, 25-23

Kamehameha def. ‘Iolani 24-26, 25-23, 20-25, 26-24, 15-12

Huntington Beach (Calif.) def. Redondo Union (Calif.) 25-23, 25-21, 25-27, 26-24

Punahou outside hitter and USC signee Riley Haine played roughly half of the match against Moanalua on Friday. “I was thankful to rest the third set, give my body a little rest. I have a little bit of injuries right now, but it’s OK. I can play through it,” said Haine, who has shin splints. “I’m super excited. I can’t wait. We’ve just got to play our game.”
Punahou coach Rick Tune relied on his reserves to close out day one at the Clash of the Titans. Punahou swept Moanalua in the nightcap. “They played great. That’s how they look in practice. This kind of experience for them, you can’t measure it. It’s really, really great to see them performing at a high level that we see every day,” he said. “For them to translate that practice onto the court is a whole different ball game and we’re happy they had the opportunity to do that.”
Huntington Beach coach Chris Pazanti led his team to a five-set win over ‘Iolani and a four-set win over rival Redondo Beach. “It was a war, two teams coming from the same division of Southern California. It was a good win for us. We’re both right around the Top 10 when we left for here. Being able to come out and play against a team we’re a little more familiar with, it fired up the guys a little bit,” he said. “Redondo is a a good team. They’re scrappy. It was a pretty even matchup. We just won a few points late in a couple of games.”
Kamehameha coach Sava Agpoon put his reserves to work on Friday. “ ‘Iolani is really consistent, always studying opponents. Their digging, it’s double of what our kids have. We’re pushing to be more aggressive with our swings, move our hits around rather than just hit to the libero,” he said. “We’re tired, but excited, too, to try out more players. The good and bad is we’re playing here during the (ILH) playoffs.”

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