PUKALANI, Maui — Punahou will try for its fourth consecutive state title after beating Roosevelt, 25-18, 25-17, in yesterday's Division I semifinals of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Boys Volleyball State Championships.

In the other semifinal match, played at Kamehameha-Maui, 'Iolani defeated Kamehameha, 25-23, 27-25 to advance to the title contest.

The championship match is tonight at 7 at King Kekaulike High School.

The top-seeded Punahou squad (18-0) used its overwhelming size advantage in the middle to drill the Roosevelt defense in a match played at King Kekaulike. The Punahou starting six is composed of all 6-footers, while the Rough Riders (16-2) started only two players in that height range.

Punahou sophomores Taylor Crabb and Henry Cassiday led Punahou with seven kills each, with senior middle blocker Jeremy Kaimikaua adding five. On defense, the team recorded four blocks and libero Marcus Miyabara had eight digs.

Senior setter Erik Shoji served two aces and contributed 17 assists while directing his team's versatile attack.

Senior Kaina Palama was the kill leader for Roosevelt, with five.

Despite a dominating performance, first-year head coach Rick Tune said the Buffanblu still "need to iron some things out" following a two-week layoff before the start of the state tournament.

"We still haven't played our best match," Tune said. "We're going to need to be more precise tomorrow."

Shoji opened the first game by serving six straight points, including an ace. Roosevelt seemed tentative during its opponent's initial run, giving away four points on errors.

The Rough Riders were unable to mount a rally despite a couple of late game kills by Palama and a block junior by Kenneth Rewick.

Punahou began the second game much as it did the first, jumping to a 5-0 lead on Shoji's serving. But Roosevelt regained some of its composure after coach Kaui Mendonca called a timeout with Punahou ahead 9-3.

Helped by a series of Punahou errors and kills by Palama and outside hitter Kainoa Mitchell, the Rough Riders managed to narrow the gap to 10-6, and fought back again at 12-8. But Shoji responded with a dump shot and service ace to set the Buffanblu back on track, 14-8.

Outside hitter Cassiday helped to close out the match by adding three kills to his total, and middle blocker Kaiwi Crabb provided emphasis with three quick hits from the center.

"We knew they were big and that they play defense well," Mendonca said. "We looked out of sync but we played to the end."