Pearl City Boys Volleyball Hits Stride Despite Late Start

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The Pearl City boys volleyball team’s first priority as they begin play in the New City Nissan 2008 Boys’ Volleyball State Championships Wednesday is to stay out of their own way, to hear the coach tell it.

“In our losses during the season, we had a lot of mental errors and unforced errors,“said coach Bryson Martin. “It’s taken this team a little long to come out of its shell. By the time we did, we already had four or five losses. But the last four of five games are probably our best games that we’ve played. I’ve reminded the kids that right now, we’re at zero-zero.”

Although the Chargers had to go the long, hard route to qualify for the state tournament, earning the fifth and last of the OIA’s berths by way of defeating McKinley in a play in game last week, they still enter the event with momentum on their side. The win over McKinley was Pearl City’s fourth win in its last five games, and the lone setback in that stretch was “our best game of the year,” according to Martin.

While pairings for the state tournament - running Wednesday through Saturday on Maui - weren’t to be released until late Sunday afternoon, Martin knows his team will again have a demanding first-round game,as the Chargers won’t be among the seeded teams.

“There’s a chance to make a run, but we’ll face a tough team in the first round,“said Martin,whose team takes an 11-5 record into Wednesday’s first-round game. “We have a lot of seniors, and this one game is going to determine a lot. We have to play how we know how to play and take the games a lot more serious than in the regular season.”

Martin attributed some of the inconsistency earlier in the season to defensive play, which was an area of emphasis for his team this post-season.

“We’ve struggled here and there,” he said of the defense,“and the bigger teams (as in the state tournament) and smarter teams will pick their holes (in a defense). Our hitting is a lot stronger right now, so we have to flip that around.”

Pearl City’s hopes for a strong defensive outing begin with sophomore libero Camren Nebri.“He’s been a big key to our success,” Martin said.“He’s been covering the hole back court.Although he’s been doing a great job, we can’t expect him to pick up every ball.We’ll have to get tighter as a back row.”

On the attack, Pearl City has counted on outside hitter Donovan Nieves, middle blocker Zach Sharpe and outside hitter Jonathan Fukui, the track and field extraordinaire who splits his time between volleyball and track.

“I have to take my hat off to Zach,” Martin said. “He’s been stepping up for us and doing a great job. A lot of the (opposing team’s) attention is on the outside and Donovan, which opens things up for Zach. He’s been one of our most consistent guys.”

Fukui is expected to travel with the team to Maui Wednesday and figures to be available for that day’s encounter as well as Thursday’s game. He will return to Oahu in time to take part in the Island Movers State Track and Field Championships Friday and Saturday at Mililani High School.