GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE @STARADVERTISER.COM Punahou’s 6-foot-5 junior middle blocker Nahua Lloyd, a varsity player since his freshman year, says he leads “by example.”
1 /2 GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE @STARADVERTISER.COM Punahou’s 6-foot-5 junior middle blocker Nahua Lloyd, a varsity player since his freshman year, says he leads “by example.”
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE @STARADVERTISER.COM Punahou’s 6-foot-5 Nahua Lloyd initially played basketball at age 4. He picked up volleyball later, at age 12.
2 /2 GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE @STARADVERTISER.COM Punahou’s 6-foot-5 Nahua Lloyd initially played basketball at age 4. He picked up volleyball later, at age 12.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE @STARADVERTISER.COM Punahou’s 6-foot-5 junior middle blocker Nahua Lloyd, a varsity player since his freshman year, says he leads “by example.”
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE @STARADVERTISER.COM Punahou’s 6-foot-5 Nahua Lloyd initially played basketball at age 4. He picked up volleyball later, at age 12.
There is always blue in Nahua Lloyd’s everyday journey.
It’s not just because the 6-foot-5 junior plays volleyball and basketball for the Punahou Buffanblu. In a season of full roster reshuffle, Punahou is unbeaten in the ILH volleyball standings at 8-0 despite losing seven seniors.
“It takes time and effort to get them to play together, to play within a system with passion and consistency, executing their roles, ” longtime Punahou boys volleyball coach Rick Tune said. “Nahua’s been a great part of bringing his hard hat and lunch pail every day, and putting in a good day of work. Our other guys are learning how to do that. We’re not all there yet, but they’re learning how to be a champion.”
Lloyd has been a varsity player since freshman year but is a first-time starter this spring for the state’s dynastic volleyball program. He had seven kills and 3.5 blocks in Punahou’s win over Hawaii Baptist early in the season. He has a team-high 25 total blocks this season and his hitting.379, but his value goes beyond numbers.
“Even during school I see Coach Rick a lot and we talk a lot. I lead by example a lot. I’m not a speech kind of guy, ” Lloyd said. “It’s been a constant, being consistent in what I do at practice and games. I have a lot of passion for the season only because of what happened last year with the loss.”
Tune has always been a technician as a coach, guiding the Buffanblu to 12 state titles since 2009. He developed his own core standard of intricate analytics for virtually every imaginable, measurable part of volleyball. Particularly at the prep level, intangibles are vitally crucial.
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“The last two years, we had exceptional leaders with Evan (Porter ), Brody (Badham ) and Adam (Haidar ), ” Tune said. “There was a huge leadership void after they graduated, and Nahua has stepped into that. Just silent and works hard every day. In matches, he brings the fire all the time. His maturity, growth and development in the way he approaches the game. He puts the team first, which is not always what kids do.”
The ILH has a glut of exceptional teams battling to stay over.500 in the state’s toughest league. Punahou was on a big run in 2024 before falling in the state final to Kamehameha and its 6-9 outside hitter, Kainoa Wade.
The loss still stings.
“That team last year was very special. We won the year before that. We were really close with each other. Our team-ness and chemistry, we would hang out before and after games, ” Lloyd said. “In the ILH it’s really hard and I learned that in the beginning ...
