The King Kekaulike boys volleyball team clinched the number one seed in the Maui Interscholastic League tournament with a win over the Warriors of Kamehameha Schools Maui Thursday night at the Nā Aliʻi gymnasium.

The Warriors who are 9-3 overall this season had a 1-1 record with Nā Aliʻi coming into the night’s matchup, winning the first in four sets. Their only other loss came against Lahainaluna earlier in the season.

“We came from behind in the first set,” head coach Robert Brede said.

Trailing by the largest margin of six points in the first set, the Warriors came back to win it 20-25. However, King Kekaulike picked up their passing, and the Warriors could not regain momentum throughout the rest of the game as they lost the second, third and fourth sets 25-13, 25-21 and 25-23.

Coach Brede talked about how King Kekaulike’s passing errors in the first set made it possible for the Warriors to come back and win it. However, the Warriors themselves need to “go back to basic passing,” Coach Brede said as they move forward into the MIL tournament.

“I definitely feel that there were moments that stood out to us and benefited us but, I know that we can do so much better,” senior Hanalei Alapai said.

Though the Warriors lost the matchup against Nā Aliʻi during the regular season, they are going to “train harder and come back stronger” to play against them in the MIL tournament, Alapai said.

They have clinched the second seed in the MIL tournament and will face Lahainaluna on Thursday in the semifinals round. If they win, they would get the second MIL state berth and move on to the finals against the winner of the King Kekaulike and Maui High game. However, because King Kekaulike was the first seed going into the tournament, if the Warriors were to face and beat them in the finals, they would have to play one more time to determine the first seed going into the state tournament.

Gallery • 8 Photos

Photo by Kimani Fernandez-Roy

Junior Tyson Haupu prepares to pass during the first set.