{"id":485,"date":"2026-05-23T05:35:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T05:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=485"},"modified":"2026-05-23T05:35:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T05:35:09","slug":"its-unreal-moanalua-boys-volleyball-reflects-on-historic-state-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=485","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s unreal\u2019: Moanalua boys volleyball reflects on historic state championship"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Moanalua boys volleyball team is still celebrating Saturday\u2019s win against Punahou.<\/p>\n

Read more Passed over for HPD chief, Mike Lambert says he\u2019s ready to return as beat cop<\/a><\/p>\n

Na Menehune stunned the perennial powerhouse in a five-set thriller to win the program\u2019s first state championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like unreal that we were able to pull it out,\u201d Moanalua outside hitter Lionel Gannon told Hawaii News Now.<\/p>\n

The boys in blue entered the match undefeated, facing a Punahou team that won 11 of the last 12 titles and has a staggering 40 championships to its name.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The match was postponed because of weather and road closures, but Moanalua played with confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t expect that they can come out and like pull out the win,\u201d Gannon said. \u201cWe knew that we\u2019re good enough that if we\u2019re on our game, we can hang with anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

For pin hitter Jarryn McCutcheon, the win carried extra meaning. McCutcheon said he was not only representing Moanalua, but also his home island of Molokai.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like such a big accomplishment, not just for me, but me representing my island,\u201d McCutcheon said. \u201cAll my emotions just like everywhere and like I was excited, happy, sad.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCutcheon was a key piece for Na Menehune\u2019s offense, notching 17 kills in the win over the Buff \u2018N Blue.<\/p>\n

McCutcheon moved to Oahu after the passing of his grandmother and lived with his sister. He says volleyball got him through some tough times.<\/p>\n

\u201cRe-find myself and like I just took volleyball to help me find myself again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Read more Oahu sees rise in family homelessness despite overall drop in unsheltered population<\/a><\/p>\n

McCutcheon said he also leaned on his newfound family at Moanalua as he navigated his personal journey.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cAll of them are just my brothers, like that\u2019s just how I look at it,\u201d McCutcheon said. \u201cWe became so close in such a short amount of time, and I love them with all my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

The title was also emotional for longtime head coach Alan Cabanting, who has spent about 15 years leading the program. Moanalua reached the championship three times before but lost to Punahou each time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still surreal,\u201d Cabanting said. \u201cI still can\u2019t believe it, but it\u2019s just amazing how we we\u2019re able to come together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with Coach Alan has been an amazing experience,\u201d libero Darric Abe said. \u201cI know that Moanalua has been known for having a lot of talent throughout the years and a lot of talented hitters.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Moanalua\u2019s win was also a milestone for Oahu public schools. The team became the first OIA program to win a state title since Roosevelt in 1979.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s inspirational to everybody that when you set to your goal to it and your mind to it that you can do anything,\u201d Cabanting said.<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s championship capped a successful weekend for Moanalua as the girls flag football and boys track-and-field teams also took home koa head trophies.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the teams were cheering each other on throughout the night,\u201d Cabanting said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust how supportive they are of each other, knowing this thing is going on, that thing\u2019s going on, and them cheering for each other, absolutely it was a big supportive community that really made this happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Read more Animal advocates push for pet breeding regulations on Maui<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Na Menehune stunned Punahou in a five-set thriller to win the program\u2019s first state championship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018It\u2019s unreal\u2019: Moanalua boys volleyball reflects on historic state championship - Hawaii Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=485\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018It\u2019s unreal\u2019: Moanalua boys volleyball reflects on historic state championship - 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