Among priorities for Aiea boys volleyball head coach Erin Coker will be to ensure that senior Perritte Togafau closes out his prep career the right way.<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-2 Togafau was a key contributor at outside hitter during Aiea’s run to the state tournament last spring, and he’s been a fixture in the program since he was a sophomore.<\/p>\n
“He’s grown a lot as a person and a player since his sophomore year,” Coker said of Togafau, who was an OIA Division II All-Conference player in 2014. “He’s come into his own. As captain, he’s had to think about others and not just himself.<\/p>\n
“Mentally, he’s trying to support the team, and he’s been playing well, also. He’s a go-to person.”<\/p>\n
Whether Na Ali‘i can capture the postseason magic of a year ago, when they were OIA DII runner-up, remains to be seen.<\/p>\n
This time around, Aiea is in DI following a promotion in the offseason, and is currently in a fight for one of the West’s six playoff spots.<\/p>\n
The team record was 2-4 at press time with four games remaining.<\/p>\n
It was to play Campbell late last week and Mililani Tuesday. This Thursday, Aiea hosts Leilehua before closing out its home schedule April 14 against Radford.<\/p>\n
The outcome of that match could figure especially big in Aiea’s post-season plans, as the Rams were tied at press time with Aiea for the last playoff berth.<\/p>\n
Campbell, Mililani and Leilehua all were above Aiea in the standings, meanwhile, allowing Na Ali‘i the opportunity to move up in coming days.<\/p>\n
In addition to Togafau, Aiea also features seven other seniors: Nicholson “Nick” Jack, Leit Kabua, Logun Morton, Bradley Padama-Kinere, Carlos Perez-Tauai, Tano Tedtaotao and Alesana (Jesse) Vaiaga’e.<\/p>\n
Underclassmen Derek Buendia, Anetelea “RJ” Moli, Mose Salavea-Tuvaifale, Ariq Vergado-Duclayan, Travis Hauki and Teejay Tome round out the team.<\/p>\n
It is Hauki, Aiea’s sophomore setter, who is the team’s leader-in-waiting. A starter as a freshman, Hauki has continued his upward mobility into his sophomore campaign.<\/p>\n
“His leadership is going to come out when he’s a junior and senior,” Coker predicts. “As the setter, he’s the quarterback for the team, and he controls the game for us. He’s also our second-best hitter behind Perritte, but it’s hard for us to have him there, so he’s been setting in a 5-1 (alignment) most of the year.<\/p>\n
“Both he and Perritte are very coachable — those are the kind of kids that you like as a coach. When you ask them to do something, they just say, ‘OK, coach.'”<\/p>\n
With a large senior class set to graduate in May, Coker envisions Aiea in rebuild mode next season, but she likes the athleticism coming up from its freshman, sophomore and junior classes.<\/p>\n
“They’re all on the same level, and we’re trying to teach them to be well-rounded, instead of being able to just play one (position),” she said. “Most are football and basketball players and wrestlers.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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