KEAAU — The one-two punch of Bradley Comilla and Justice Lord powered Hilo past Kahuku 25-23, 25-18, 25-20 in the first round at the HHSAA Division I volleyball tournament on Friday night at Koaia Gym.
Comilla pounded 17 kills and hit .346 while Lord hammered 10 kills and had a healthy .472 hitting clip for the Vikings, who hit .274 as a team.
Hilo (13-4), the BIIF runner-up, plays No. 4 seed King Kekaulike (14-2), the MIL champion, in the quarterfinals at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Koaia Gym.
No. 2 Kamehameha (15-0), the BIIF champ, plays Kalaheo (11-4), the OIA’s No. 4 team, in the following quarterfinal at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
In the other first-round match, Kalaheo defeated Lahainaluna 25-16, 25-21, 24-26, 27-25.
Lahainaluna (10-5) plays Kahuku (11-5) at noon Saturday in a consolation match.
The Vikings served tough against the Red Raiders and racked up six aces against seven service errors. Kahuku had 13 service errors, most of them into the net, and got just two aces.
Micha Maiava had 13 kills and hit .435, Alaifatu Tito had eight kills and a .467 hitting clip, and Spencer Niutupuivaha had four kills and hit .500 for Kahuku.
But every other Red Raider hit negative, and all Hilo’s tough serves contributed to a .176 hitting clip.
Hilo libero Trevor Castro had three aces and senior setter/hitter Maikah Tandal had just one ace, but his top-spin sinkers led to a one-dimensional attack by Kahuku.
The best example of Kahuku’s serving woes was the first set. The Red Raiders had a whopping 14 unforced errors, including eight service miscues.
Then Comilla and Lord played tag-team firepower partners in the next two games. Comilla drilled seven kills in the second set, and Lord cleaned up with six in the last set.
The Vikings blanketed the floor better with more digs, 25-15. Comilla led the way with eight digs and Castro came up with six digs.
All those digs gave Hilo extra swings. And when it was Kahuku’s turn to start an attack, untimely service errors got in the way.