Outside hitter Anna Uhr had 9 kills and an ace for Iolani in a match against Punahou. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Punahou outside hitter McKenna Granato, left, watches the ball after attempting a kill past Iolani's Tatiana Calimpong-Burke (12) and Saige Kaahaina-Torres (15). Sean Nakamura | SL

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MAKIKI — McKenna Granato put down a match-high 10 kills as Punahou defeated Iolani in a Division I girls' volleyball match at Hemmeter Fieldhouse Wednesday night. The scores were 25-21 and 21-17.

The Buffanblu overcame nine kills from the Raiders' Anna Uhr to improve to 4-0 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu. Vae Malufau and Hana Lishman had five kills apiece and Malufau also was in on three blocks for Punahou, which kept pace with fellow unbeaten Kamehameha atop the league standings with the win.

The hosts were especially tough at the service line. Despite just one service ace — by Granato in game 2 — Punahou missed only two serves for the match and kept Iolani's quick offense out of sync for much of the night.

"They were serving tough down the line, finding good spots, good zones with good hard, flat float servers, so of course, that dictated a lot on their side," Raiders' coach Kainoa Obrey said.

Meanwhile, libero Brandee Markwith and defensive specialist Emi Puaa led the backrow effort with numerous tough digs.

"I really do hope that we continue to strengthen that because I believe that that is the foundation of any strong team," Buffanblu coach Tanya Fuamatu-Anderson said of her team's defense. "In order for us to go the distance this season we need to make sure we take care of the ball, we play never-say-die defense and we serve tough."

The opening set was a back-and-forth affair for much of the early going. There were 14 ties and seven lead changes. Iolani held a slim 18-17 advantage, but Punahou scored four of the next five points to force Obrey to call his first timeout. The Buffanblu extended their lead to 24-20 when Obrey called his second timeout to show their momentum, but Malufau ended the set with a solo block of a Raiders' attack in the middle.

Iolani committed eight hitting errors in the game and 13 for the match.

"We talked about it (during those timeouts) and we just wanted to finish," Granato said. "We didn't want to make it close or make it exciting. We wanted to bring the energy up and just finish it."

Punahou's energy carried over into game two, when it jumped out to an early 6-1 lead following four early errors by Iolani.

"Against a strong team like Iolani it's always nice to have a cushion to allow for every once in a while those crazy errors that tend to creep up on you," said Fuamatu-Anderson, who guided the Buffanblu to a state runner-up finish in 2013.

Iolani cut the deficit to 14-9 following a pair of dinks by setter Bailey Choy, but Punahou again pulled away, this time with a 6-1 run that gave it a commanding 20-10 lead. Lishman put down a kill from the middle to give her team set point and two plays later, a Raiders' hitting error closed out the match.

Uhr, who also had two of her team's three aces, had seven kills in the first set, but just two in the second.

"I think they kind of keyed on (Uhr) after a while," Obrey said. "It looked like they dedicated a blocker on her. I think they served her and then really tried to take her out of her rhythm by forcing her to make a different type of shot and then they were able to dig it, so it worked out for them, for sure."

Saige Kaahaina-Torres added six kills and a block and Sierra Buscher chipped in with four kills for the Raiders.

"We did make an adjustment with the middles," Fuamatu-Anderson said. "I told the middles to just leave McKenna on the one-on-one's on the back side and just focus in on Anna, who was their strong hitter on this side and just make sure that we've got four hands up on her at all times."

Iolani's speedy offense proved tough to defend for the Buffanblu at first.

"We tried to focus more on blocking (after the first game)," Granato said. "We're not used to the quick sets, so we were trying to just get over fast and work on passing in the seams more."

Iolani, which fell to 2-2, hosts Sacred Hearts at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, while Punahou's next match is Tuesday evening against Mid-Pacific.