Konawaena girls volleyball team dog-piles teammate Celena Molina (bottom) after knocking in the final kill against Seabury Hall in the fifth set to win the HHSAA Division II state championship. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Konawaena's Cherilyn Molina skirts a kill attempt past the Seabury Hall block. Peter Caldwell | SL

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Konawaena took down Seabury Hall (14-1 overall) in five sets, 25-19, 19-25, 25-20, 12-25, 15-9 to win their second straight Division 2 title in the 47th Annual New City Nissan/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Girls Volleyball State Championships at the Neil S. Blaisdell Center.

The Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division 2 champions won the title in 2013 and finished the season at 18-0 overall. 

"I never count my chickens before they hatch. We take a game at a time and try to absorb one game at a time. I knew coming into the match, Seabury wasn't going to be a walk in the park, obviously they made it to the championship game. To have a five game match in a championship game is a good game. I'm proud of Scott Zucco and Seabury for what he did for his program," said Konawaena coach Ainsley Keawekane. 

"The girls played solid tonight and it was a back and forth game and it was fantastic to participate in, to coach and to watch. It was a great, back-and-forth game," said Seabury Hall coach Scottie Zucco.  

Celena Molina had 17 kills, 31 assists and 24 digs, her sister Chanelle Molina had 20 kills, 18 digs and a service ace, and McKenna Ventura added 11 kills, 17 assists and 10 digs. 

"I motivated my team whenever we were down and I communicated with them so no balls hit the ground. We executed our passes well and if we didn't pass well, we picked them up and tried to motivate them," said Celena Molina. 

"I tried playing smart and not swinging the ball down and picking where on the court where I wanted to hit it," said Chanelle Molina. 

"For Celena, it doesn't matter how young she is, she is a big leader on this team. She knows how to pick up everybody and I trust her in every way possible," said Keawekane. 

In the fifth set, the Spartans took an early lead, but the Wildcats came back to take a 8-5 lead and Seabury Hall called timeout. Konawaena extended the lead to 10-5 after a kill from Celena Molina, but the Spartans came back on a 3-0 run followed by a Konawaena net violation to make it, 10-8.

"The last games were about streaks, we streaked early and they streaked at the end. Coudn't have asked for a more formidable and fantastic opponent. Hat's off to them, they played fantastic. We were hoping to ride the momentum from game four to game five. Ultimately it woke up the dragon on the other side," said Zucco. 

The Wildcats gained the momentum and closed out the set on a 5-1 run, as Celena nailed a kill for the exclamation point. 

"We were pumped up everytime we scored and our heads were never down. We passed precisely and communicated well. We put our hearts out there and dug deep and didn't let anything phase us," said Celena. 

"We had to make sure our passes would be precise and without it we wouldn't be able to execute our plays. A lot of communication and we got a lot of balls up and had to talk to see who had the second ball up," said Chanelle.  

"I told them the team that has the most heart is going to win, leave everything on the floor and you will prevail and I'm so proud of these kids. I told the kids, if we can get the first four points, we'll be good and from there on we chipped away at the score," said Keawekane. 

Seabury Hall jumped out to an early 7-1 lead in the fourth set and the Wildcats called a timeout. Konawaena cut it to 4, but the Spartans were able to extend the lead to 10, after a kill from Amy Ozee. 

"A lot of our defense and offense is built around our block. If we set up a nice block options for digging it makes it easier, we can be aggressive on offense. In that fourth frame, we played our game, it was our style of volleyball, we blocked well and were able to thump some aggressive balls," said Zucco. 

Shayla Hoeft was on the attack and had 17 kills after four sets. Her kill won the set, 25-12 to force a fifth and final set. Hoeft had a game-high 22 kills. 

"She's a great offensive player and a great kid as well. She showed up with big, heavy kills and key blocks at times and can't say enough about her. When she gets more comfortable on the outside, she will be crushing it," said Zucco.

"We picked each other up, when someone made a mistake we would lift their spirit to play better. It's a mental sport and can't let it get to your head and everyone was cheering for each other," said Chanelle. 

Konawaena held a slim lead through much of the third set as both teams traded points. Seabury was able to cut it to 2, 22-20 after Celena hit it out. However, the Wildcats managed to pull away to win, 25-20. 

The Wildcats took the first set, 25-19 and closed it out on a 4-1 run and Celena and Chanelle combined for 11 kills in the first set. However, in the second set, Seabury jumped out to a early, 10-3 lead as Leuteneker and Hoeft added four kills a piece and held off Konawaena toward the end to tie the match at one a piece. 

Kiki Leuteneker had 14 kills, Gabby Ratte had 26 assists, and Phoebe Fickbohm had 31 digs for the Spartans. 

NEW CITY NISSAN HHSAA DIVISION II ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM

Most Outstanding Player: Chanelle Molina, Konawaena

UT - Cherilyn Molina, Konawaena (9)
OH - Shayla Hoeft, Seabury Hall (11)
MB - Kiki Leutencker, Seabury Hall (12)
MB - Alexandra Jacobsen, Kalaheo (12_
S - Celena Jane Molina, Konawaena (10)
S - Phoebe Fickbohm, Seabury Hall (11)
DS/L - Sara Utsugi, Hawaii Baptist (12)