Konawaena's Chanelle Molina had a game-high 23 kills to go along with 13 digs to lead the way for the Wildcats. Tyler Kanoa | University High

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University High's Taira Ka'awaloa puts a kill attempt past the Konawaena block. Tyler Kanoa | University High

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Konawaena players celebrate after defeating top-seed University High. Evan Asato | SL

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A sister act helped carry out the biggest upset of the New City Nissan/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II Girls Volleyball State Championships Wednesday night.

Chanelle Molina led the offense with 23 kills and her younger sister, Celena, anchored the defense with 37 digs — both match-highs — as Konawaena toppled tournament top-seed University High in four sets. The scores  were 25-21, 22-25, 25-10, 25-22. The Wildcats, who finished second in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation behind Hawaii Prep, improved to 15-3 on the season and advanced to Thursday's semifinal round where they will play Waimea, who beat Radford in five sets in the late quarterfinal at McKinley.

"We just all worked as a team and we each did our own job," said Chanelle Molina, a sophomore outside hitter. "Our hitting was on, our passing was flawless — we just did everything we were told to do and we came away with the win."

Chanelle Molina also had 13 digs and two blocks, while Celena chipped in six kills, six assists and an ace. Setter Makana Wall recorded a match-high 31 assists to go with 16 digs, nine kills, three aces and a block. Kaela Avanilla had 17 digs, McKenna Ventura 13 and Ela Seier 11 for the Wildcats.

"The kids gave a lot of heart today, it was just a lot of heart," said Konawaena coach Ainsley Keawekane. "We've had our differences on our team and we had to leave everything outside of the gym so that when we came in the gym we're one team."

The Wildcats got off a hot start right off the bat with a 5-1 lead in game one that they eventually strethed to 18-9 following a 7-1 run. University cut the deficit to 23-21 , but Chanelle Molina put down her seventh kill of the opening set to give her team game point and a Jr. Bow attack into the net closed out it out, 25-22.

Konawaena held an early 3-0 lead in game two, but allowed a 5-0 run midway through the set to fall behind 16-10. A double-contact call against University cut its lead to 20-19, but the Wildcats committed three hitting errors down the stretch. Markayisha Masani had six of her team-high 15 kills in game two, which University won, 25-22.

Game three was all Konawaena. The Wildcats seized a 7-2 lead off a Chanelle Molina kill and separated even further with a 12-1 run that made the score 22-9. Taira Kaawaloa put down one of her nine kills on the ensuing play, but Chanelle Molina answered with consecutive kills followed by an ace by Wall to close out game three, 25-10.

Keawekane said the offense was efficient thanks in large part to the decision-making of Wall.

"I think that my setter, Makani Wall, did a heck of a heck of a job giving it to the right people when she needed to," Keawekane said. "She's my senior and I'll be sad when we lose her next year. She was a great leader today and I'm proud of her."

Two early runs of 6-1 and 5-0 helped Konawaena jump out to a 12-5 lead in game four. The Wildcats led for the majority of the set until University tied it at 21-all following a 7-2 run that was capped by a lift call against Konawaena. However, Avanilla sparked a 4-1 Wildcats' run to close out the match with her third of four kills in the set.

"I guess for the most part, our kids play to the potential of the other team," Keawekane said. "When they play a team that struggles, they struggle as well. When they play a team that's complete like University, who is a very good team, my team decided to play on their level today and the outcome was the team that made the least errors came out on top."

Masani and Crisostomo had 18 digs apiece and Crisostomo also notched 30 assists for the Junior Bows, who will play XXX in a fifth-place semifinal at 5 p.m. Thursday at Kaimuki.

"We haven't played a team like Konawaena all season long," University coach Jon Tom said. "They were a really strong team with very solid defense and we just broke down. Our girls had to go to school today and they were so excited — it was the first time that they were playing in the state tournament for two years now — and we just weren't ready to play at the level that Konawaena played at."

The Junior Bows couldn't match the energy of the Wildcats, who swept Hana in a first-round match Tuesday. University, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship, had a first-round bye.

"I teach the kids that when somebody has the target on their back, we've got nothing to lose," Keawekane said. "The person who has the target on their back has a lot to lose. We don't have the target on our back because we still have to get through the semifinals to get to the finals. Tonight, they played with nothing to lose and this was the best I've seen them play since the preseason."

University, which fell to 13-2, committed 21 hitting errors — including nine in the first set — to 14 for Konawaena in the match.

Chanelle Molina, who introduced herself to the state with a spectacular freshman basketball campaign last year, said the Wildcats' victory was two-folds.

"Our sets and passes were there and that's how we were able to get the hits," she said. "But, a lot of it is mental. Volleyball is all a mental game — you've just got to be strong in the mind so that whatever team we're playing, it doesn't matter and we've just got to play our game."

Over at Kaimuki, third-seeded Hawaii Prep defeated Roosevelt and defending champ Saint Francis edged No. 2-seed Seabury Hall in a pair of five-set quarterfinals Wednesday. HPA and Saint Francis will play in a 5 p.m. semifinal at McKinley Thursday that will precede the Konawaena-Waimea match.