Seabury Narrowly Swept in Volleyball Final

By Fred Guzman

There are sweeps, and there are sweeps in volleyball.

The Seabury Hall boys came up short in their bid to repeat as state Division-II volleyball champions. But the Spartans gave a gutsy account of themselves in a straight-sets loss to Hawaii Baptist Academy in Saturday’s title game at the McKinley High gym on Oahu.

Seabury was, indeed, swept by HBA, but the margins were razor-thin in each of the sets: 25-22, 25-23, 26-24, the top-seeded HBA of the ILH edging out the second-seeded Spartans of the MIL.

In the end, the Spartans didn’t have an answer for HBA’s twin towers of 6-foo-4 junior Chad Barretta and 6-6 sophomore Mike Fisher. Barretta had 20 kills; Fisher added 14.

Rocky DeLyon, a 6-2 junior, led Seabury with 14 kills. Seniors Conner Snow and Alex Wright had seven and six kills, respectively. The Spartans paid dearly for its nine service errors against only two aces.

Meantime, on the Big Island, Kamehameha-Kapalama defeated top-seeded ILH rival Punahou in the D-I championship match at Kea’au High School.

Micah Christenson unleashed 22 kills in leading the Warriors to a a 25-23, 25-20, 25-24 victory. Earlier this year, the 6-foot-4 Richardson also led Kamehameha to the state D-I basketball crown.

Chistenson will focus on volleyball in college after accepting a scholarship from Southern California. He also is on the radar of the national team program and is given a chance at becoming a future Olympian.