Hilo’s volleyball match with Kealakehe got tighter as it wore on, but you never would have known from watching Bradley Comilla.
After an easy first set Saturday, Comilla couldn’t find a drinking cup, so he simply got on his back and crunched below a water jug to drink from its spout. He shrugged off hitting errors with a laugh, and by the fourth set he was on his back again after finally succumbing to cramps. Before he walked off, he reassured the home crowd, shouting, “I’m good.”
Largely because of his powerful arm and calming influence, so were the Vikings.
Comilla watched the final points from the bench, but the senior outside hitter had his hands all over their Big Island Interscholastic victory. He swatted 31 kills to coax Hilo past the Waveriders 25-15, 25-22, 24-26, 25-21.
“I just try to bring everybody’s heads up,” Comilla said. “If I get down, usually my teammates get down. That happened against Kamehameha, and I don’t want that.”
His final kill gave Hilo the lead for good in the fourth set at 21-20, but he was forced to exit one point later after a Waveriders’ hitting error. Justice Lord, who finished with seven kills and three blocks, helped put the Vikings over the top with a pair of kills.
“I asked to go back in, but they said no,” Comilla said. “I was just cheering my teammates on.”
The 6-foot-3 Comilla was superb in each set in finding holes or beating blocks, even when he went up against imposing 6-4 senior middle blocker Peni Kalavi. Sione Atuekaho added 14 kills for Hilo (3-1), which almost has a full complement of club players in its rotation.
The Waveriders (2-1) picked up their play after a slow start. They feature just one club player, and senior Seth Lincoln (12 kills, three aces) stood out in that he, much like Comilla, looked as comfortable hitting from the back row as he did from the front.
“I proud of my boys for hanging tough and fighting until the end,” Waveriders coach Kahuni Lee said. “We came out flat, but it was nice to see us work through it.”
The match was a potential Division I playoff preview. Kamehameha (3-0) and Waiakea (3-1) have owned a stranglehold on HHSAA berths recently, but there may be an opening this season. The Waveriders already beat Waiakea.
The Vikings, who haven’t lost since a season-opening loss at Kamehameha, haven’t been to the HHSAA tournament since it moved up to Division I in 2010.
“I think we have the players to do it,” fourth-year Vikings coach Ben Pana said.
He saw what he wanted to see in the first set as the Vikings executed a fast-paced attack to offset Kalavi, who finished with eight kills and four blocks.
Libero Trevor Castro dove the floor and used one arm to dig balls, setter Maikah Tandal fed Comilla with crisp sets and middle blockers Atuekaho and Lord provided a presence at the net.
“Everything was outstanding at the start,” Pana said. “I’ve never had a team with blocking like this; just a wall of that size.”
Comilla began cramping in the second set, but he put down three balls as Hilo dug out of a 21-19 hole, and he ended Game 2 with his ninth kill of the set. Kaimi Wilson gave Kealakehe a timely kill late in Game 3 and the Waveriders took advantage when Hilo missed a chance at match point because of a rotation violation.
“Kealakehe is a good team,” Comilla said. “They just stepped it up the last three sets.”
That’s not surprising considering their coach’s pedigree.
Lee has been a prominent figure in West Hawaii volleyball for more than 20 years. He twice won BIIF Player of the Year at Konawaena in the early 1990s, and 10 years later he built up the Waveriders boys program to win three consecutive BIIF titles from 2001-2003. Kealakehe hasn’t won BIIFs since, but in the meantime Lee helped restore the girls program at alma mater, leaving just before the Wildcats’ run of back-to-back state titles.
Kalavi with will play a central role in determining how far Lee’s current restoration project goes.
“He’s worked hard, and he’s an animal who wants the ball all the time,” Lee said. “That’s what I love about Peni.”