Two-time defending state champion and No. 1 seed Punahou could have its hands full with Big Island Interscholastic Federation runner-up Waiakea in the quarterfinal round of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Division I Boys Volleyball State Championships at the Buffanblu's Hemmeter Fieldhouse.

The match is scheduled to start at 7:30 tonight.

The Big Island Warriors (15-1) easily defeated Leilehua (13-3), who entered as the O'ahu Interscholastic Association third-place team, 25-17, 25-13, yesterday.

Waiakea was led by senior middle blocker Branden Medeiros and freshman outside hitter Clayton Morante Jr., who combined for 14 of the Warriors' 26 kills and accounted for just four errors.

"Branden has been our No. 1 hitter all year long," said Waiakea coach Ecko Osorio. "We're a little weak in the middle, so he relieves a lot of stress. He has good vision and a nice arm swing. He's able to read blocks well and get around it."

Medeiros finished with six kills and a block, while Morante Jr. had a match-high eight kills.

"He's just a freshman but he comes from a volleyball family so he's been playing a long time," Osorio said of Morante Jr., who went over the block for several of his kills. "He hits a nice ball. When he's on, he's really tough. In the big games, we can always count on him. He's really clutch and a big gun."

The Mules rallied with a 5-0 run to cut the Waiakea lead to 11-10, but the Warriors answered back with an 8-0 run. Following a Leilehua timeout at 23-17, the Warriors earned game point on a Jonah Retutai ace before Medeiros and Aaron Osorio stuffed the next Leilehua attack to win it.

Waiakea started the second game the way it finished the first. It took a quick 5-1 lead but allowed the Mules to stay close due to 10 unforced errors. Leilehua was still unable to run its offense or get enough blockers up on the Warriors' three hitters.

"First set we were a little bit shaky, I think we were a little bit nervous, a little overanxious," Ecko Osorio said. "We tried a different lineup in the second set and we seemed to click a little better. (Our) serves were pretty tough and our shots were going down, so that was a big reason why the Mules were kind of off-balance."

Leilehua earned just three of its 13 points in the second set. "We couldn't stop them from hitting the line all night," said Leilehua coach Ernest Balignasay. "We couldn't dig them at all."

The Warriors know they'll be huge underdogs against 26-time state champion Punahou. "We're hoping to stay close and hopefully we can play our A-plus game or maybe our A-minus game and maybe catch Punahou on their C game and pull the upset," Osorio said.

KALAHEO DEF. KAHUKU

Tyler Caswell put down seven kills and Chase Moses added six as the Mustangs (13-3) beat the Red Raiders (5-12), 25-20, 25-20.

Kalaheo, the OIA runner-up, will meet Lahainaluna, the No. 4 seed and Maui Interscholastic League champion.

Mustangs coach Gavin Cook felt fortunate to get the win, but wasn't happy with his team's performance.

"Not at all," Cook said. "I can see the boys being a little nervous, but I've never seen them play this tight before, so hopefully it's all out of the way."

Kalaheo committed 13 hitting errors and had 12 service errors.

"The whole thing is, we want them to go for it," Cook said of his players' serving woes. "And it seems that every time that they don't, when they start to be a little more tentative with their serves, that's when a lot of errors comes."