Mililani Vs. Nanakuli D-1 Quarterfinal (10/15/26)
e’Lexxia Poland (1), Ana Olevao (17), and Noey Shontofski (20) agree on what to do on this next possession in set 2.
Make it 11 straight!
The Mililani Trojans girls’ volleyball team began post-season play with a sweep over the Nanakuli Golden Hawks in their OIA D-I Quarterfinal match, 25-9, 25-21, and 25-17, at Mililani High School on Thursday!
It was a big night for Meleʻotu Olevao, who logged at least 19 kills in the sweep!
Mililani’s Meleʻotu Olevao (21) goes for a block in set 3 over Nanakuli!
Nanakuli’s Kulaʻi Kepa-Kahalewai drew first blood in the first set! It looked like it was going to be a close fight.
Kaniokekai Lau got Mililani on the board on the next possession with a kill! A Kealananea Stephens kill kickstarted what was a 7-1 Mililani run to take an 8-3 lead. That included a Stephens ace and was punctuated by a Gergana Kukin kill, but the Trojans were not done!
Mililani’s Gergana Kukin tries for the kill here!
A Noey Shontofski kill ignited what was a massive 17-4 Mililani run to stampede away to the set one win, 25-9! That included eight straight in the waning moments!
Nanakuli showed more fight in set two! Ravina Mokiao-Loa, Chey-Lee Agena, and Brianna Namulauti did most of the legwork early and forced Mililani to dig deep!
And dig deep they did! An e’Lexxia Poland ace tied the score at five, and a Kukin kill gave Mililani its first lead of set two!
e’Lexxia Poland preparing to serve here in set 2!
“Nanakuli was definitely playing really hard tonight! Kudos to them!” said Poland. “We knew that they were playing their hardest against us, and we loved the competitiveness that they had tonight!”
Nanakuli fired back and retook the lead! They were able to get a lead of four, 19-15, thanks to a 7-3 run. From then, the tides turned.
Another Lau kill, and back-to-back Ana Olevao kills ignited what was a critical 10-2 Mililani run, including the last seven straight, to end the second set, 25-21!
Mililani’s Ana Olevao (17) goes for the ball here!
“We were making a lot of mistakes we shouldn’t have been making, but the offense was really strong tonight,” said Poland. “We’re getting a lot better at moving on from mistakes; we’re not really soaking or dwelling.”
Set three saw both teams trade two points each through the first eight possessions. Mililani’s Harley Vila got an early ace during the exchanges, and Mililani busted through the dam first!
Mililani’s Harley Vila (7) with a dynamic serve here in set 3!
After back-to-back Namulauti kills for Nanakuli, the Olevao sisters reeled off back-to-back kills to generate a 6-2 Mililani run and take a 10-6 lead!
After sparing three straight to Nanakuli, a Kukin block for Mililani generated an adrenaline-filled 7-1 surge to take a 17-10 lead! Mililani never looked back from then on, and senior Ivy Taylor, in her second game of the season, delivered the final kill to give Mililani the 25-17 win and the sweep!
Mililani remains undefeated at 11-0 in 2026! They will hit the road for their semifinal match against the Kahuku Red Raiders at Radford High School on Monday, October 19. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 pm HST.
“That’s a really spectacular thing, and it’s something that definitely has to be celebrated!” said Poland of this perfect 2026 season.
