Student athletes pose for a group picture following the signing ceremony at the PIAA Fall NLI ceremony. Brien Ing | SL

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WAIKIKI — Just mere days after their teams faced off for the Division I girls volleyball state championship, Punahou's McKenna Rose Granato and Kamehameha's Tiyana Hallums found themselves sitting alongside one another with nothing but big smiles on their faces.

Granato and Hallums were among the 32 high school seniors who signed their National Letters of Intent at the annual Pacific Islands Athletic Alliance Signing Day Event early Wednesday morning at the Elks Club Lodge in Waikiki.

"We're all super close, so it's definitely hard playing against them, but it has to happen and we get along and it's nice to share this moment with each other," said Granato, who will play for Dave Shoji and the hometown Rainbow Wahine next year.

Granato's Buffanblu upset Hallums' Warriors in four sets Saturday, but Wednesday morning the girls exchanged hugs, lei and posed for pictures together after the 30-minute ceremony that began at 6:20 a.m.

"It's so great. Of course, on the volleyball court we're like enemies, but honestly I have nothing but love and respect for McKenna, so being next to her was kind of bad because we don't take anything seriously and we always joke around, but it was awesome," said Hallums, who was one of 11 volleyball players to sign Wednesday and one of six from Kamehameha.

Hallums said the event helped ease the pain of losing to rival Punahou in the state final.

"Honestly, I was just looking forward to it the whole time and, you know, not everything goes your way and I'm just really excited for the next step and I'm excited to train and get back in the gym, so that's just my outlook on life right now," said Hallums, an outside hitter headed to Gonzaga. "It was awesome. I still can't believe that this is actually happening. You always see the older people like signing and you're just like, 'Wow, they're old,' and now we're old."

Hallums' teammate Mia Heirakuji chimed in.

"Just seeing how we all played together when we were younger and seeing how much we've progressed and how far we've come after all these years together, it's awesome to finally share that together," Heirakuji, a libero who signed with Temple University in Philadelphia.

Heirakuji won't be too far from another teammate in setter Kamalani Akeo, who signed with the University of Pittsburgh.

"We already talked about getting together some times, like her coming to me or me going to Philly," Akeo said. "It's so exciting. I'm so glad everyone is here and we get to share this important moment."

Wednesday's signing provided some much-needed relief for Akeo, who did not play in the state tournament after her season was cut short by an injury.

"This is really nice," Akeo said. "I'm glad it's right now, because last week was a hard week for me, so this was really exciting. I'm looking forward to what I'm going to do."

Nine months after seeing her older brother, Larry, give a surprise commitment to Southern California, Punahou setter Kiani Tuileta put her future in writing by signing with Brigham Young.

"All of this, especially this win on Saturday and leading up to this point has kind of felt unreal to me and just signing today was just such a blessing for me and my family and I'm really lucky to continue to play volleyball at the next level; I'm really excited," Tuileta said.

Other volleyball signees included Reyn Akiu (Kamehameha/Texas Tech), Leila Holt (Kamehameha/Western Oregon), Rielly Killeen (Iolani/Arizona), Malia Luis-Mateo (Saint Francis/Menlo), Kennedy Poligratis (Kamehameha/Hawaii Pacific) and Anna Uhr (Iolani/Harvard). 

SIGNEES (Student-Athlete, High School - College/Univ.)

BASEBALL
Kaikepono Anderson, Saint Louis - UH-Manoa
Dirk-Patrick Keola Himan, Campbell - Hawaii Pacific
Corey Nakakura, Iolani - Northern Colorado
Codie Paiva, Kamehameha - Loyola Marymount

BASKETBALL
Jasmine Moody, Radford - Brigham Young
Jeneva Toilolo, Farrington - New Mexico State

BOWLING
Katherine Clouse, Radford - Maryland-Eastern Shore

CREW
Caitlin Green, Punahou - Marist

GOLF
Spencer Dunaway, Kamehameha - Brigham Young
Rose Huang, Iolani - Brigham Young
Keilyn Ing, Iolani - Portland State

ROWING
Malia Mizuno, Punahou - UC San Diego

SOFTBALL
Taylor Ah Mook Sang, Castle - Academy of Art
Xeana Kamalani Dung, Kamehameha - Fresno State
Shearyna Labasan, Maryknoll - Western Washington
Nicole Lopez, Mid-Pacific - UH-Manoa
Nicole Nishizawa, Punahou - Harvard
Raven Sapla, Sacred Hearts - Utah Valley

SWIMMING
Kanoa Kaleoaloha, Kamehameha - Florida State

TENNIS
Skyla Alcon, Mid-Pacific - Cal State Northridge
Ashley Ishimura, Punahou - Creighton

VOLLEYBALL
Kamalani Akeo, Kamehameha - Pittsburgh
Reyn Akiu, Kamehameha - Texas Tech
McKenna Rose Granato, Punahou - UH-Manoa
Tiyana Hallums, Kamehameha - Gonzaga
Mia Heirakuji, Kamehameha - Temple
Leila Holt, Kamehameha - Western Oregon
Reilly Killeen, Iolani - Arizona
Malia Luis-Mateo, Saint Francis - Menlo
Kennedy Poligratis, Kamehameha - Hawaii Pacific
Kiani Tuileta, Punahou - Brigham Young
Anna Uhr, Iolani - Harvard