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Punahou uses deep bench to earn top seed in state tournament
By Kim Baxter / Special to the Star-Bulletin
As the Punahou girls volleyball team plowed its way to an unbeaten regular season in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, coach Jim Iams stuck with a consistent rotation.
Why change when it had worked so well as the Buffanblu cruised to a 27-match winning streak (including the preseason), the ILH regular-season crown and the top ranking in the state?
But in the ILH second-round final, a much-anticipated tilt against No. 2-ranked Kamehameha, Punahou was struggling. After powering its way to an easy first-set win, the Buffanblu got skittish, worrying about each and every mistake against the reigning four-time Division I state champions, who surged to a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five match.
That's when Iams figured he had to get a little creative with his lineup. He replaced starting setter Malia Patterson, a senior, with junior backup Shannan McCready. He inserted little-used freshman Tayler Higgins at the opposite position for senior Ali Santi. He even removed outside hitter Tai Manu-Olevao for a few points to calm her down after some errant swings.
McCready gave the team a boost with some nice digs and perfect sets, Higgins (who conceded to being "pretty nervous") played the rest of the match and Manu-Olevao settled down as Iams' shuffle worked perfectly. Punahou came from behind to best Kamehameha and capture the ILH second-round championship 25-14, 15-25, 21-25, 25-16, 15-9 played on the Punahou campus.
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