The Kamehameha girls volleyball team celebrate after winning a point. Kamehameha swept Iolani in two sets to improve to 2-0. Greg Yamamoto | SL

Purchase image 1 of 2

Kamehameha's Braelyn Akana had eight kills and three blocks in the Warriors' straight set win over Iolani. Greg Yamamoto | SL

Purchase image 2 of 2

An early Interscholastic League of Honolulu regular season contest between Kamehameha and Iolani still had the same intensity as it did when the teams last met on the court.

The Warriors used a balanced attack to sweep the Raiders at Iolani's Lower Gymnasium Saturday afternoon in a rematch of last year's Division I state title game, which the Warriors won in five sets. Kamehameha took the first set convincingly, 25-17, before outlasting the Raiders' comeback attempt to win set two, 25-23.

Sophomore setter Lexis Akeo was fluid at the controls, distributing the ball to five different hitters for 23 assists. Middle Braelyn Akana was the biggest beneficiary of Akeo's quick sets to the right pin, finishing with a match-high eight kills with three blocks. Outside hitters Kayla Afoa and Kili Robins added seven and six kills respectively and each had a block assist. Kalina Obrey also saw time at middle blocker and chipped in four kills while opposite Tymane Talanoa had two kills.

"We definitely wanted to win especially since it was such a close game between us last year, so we wanted to prove that we are the defending state champions," said Akeo, who also added five digs and two block assists.

Kamehameha coach Chris Blake credited the back row passing by Afoa, Robins and libero Kyra Hanawahine in helping the Warriors run their system. Hanawahine had a match-high eight digs with two aces and three assists while Afoa and Robins had five and four digs respectively.

"In order for Braelyn and for Kalina to do the things that they're doing, we definitely have to control first touch," said Blake, whose team improved to 2-0. "I thought we controlled first touch really well today to put us into system, running our offense through our middles helps to open up all of our pins, but it was definitely a pretty balanced attack by us today, which I'm very proud of."

On the other side of the net, there wasn't too much that Iolani coach Kainoa Obrey could be disappointed with as the Raiders were making their season debut against a high-caliber opponent. Iolani's scheduled opener against Maryknoll that was slated for Wednesday, Aug. 31 was pushed back due to weather concerns.

The Raiders were also playing in their first league game since losing setter Bailey Choy and last year's ILH Division I Player of the Year to graduation. Taking over the setting duties is Ana Oglivie, last year's starting libero. She finished with 15 assists against Kamehameha.

"She's a setter naturally, she's just never really had the opportunity to set for us here at Iolani, but she's doing a great job," said coach Obrey. "That's kind of where a lot of our kids are. They're kind of playing where we need them to for our school. We're just plugging into spots that maybe they're not playing the full year or in the club scene, but I think they're doing a pretty good job. We're learning and gaining some experience as we continue to play."

Saige Kaahaaina-Torres and Emma Oglivie each had six kills to lead the Raiders in the loss. Sasha Petticord added three kills with four blocks and Halia Hogan and Kristen McDaniel had two kills each to round out the Iolani attack. 

Both teams traded points early on in set one before a handful of off-speed swings by Afoa helped Kamehameha go on a 4-0 run to take a 14-9 lead and force an Iolani timeout. The Warriors grew their lead to six, 20-14, before Iolani rattled off three straight points to make it a three-point game. After Kamehameha called timeout the Warriors closed out the set with five straight points, which was capped by freshman Maluhia Maa's overpass kill.

The second set appeared to be a similar story with the Warriors taking leads of 9-5 and 15-9, but the Raiders responded with tough jump serves by Kaahaaipa-Torress to cut the deficit to three, 16-13.

"If we can just plug away point by point, there's a good chance we can come back because we serve tough," said coach Obrey. "It's nice to see the girls be relentless a little bit with that and not give in."

Momentum was on Iolani's side when the Raiders appeared to have taken a 18-17 lead after a Kamehameha attack went out of bounds, but the sideline official charged an Iolani player with touching the net and the Warriors were able to maintain the lead.

Still, the Raiders kept on fighting and cut the lead to one three more times to make things interesting. Iolani regained the serve down 24-23, but a good pass to Akeo helped set up Akana's kill down the middle to close out the match.

"We just made sure we were all focused into the game and we stayed in task," said Akana. "Iolani's fans were really loud so we just had to make sure that we took a deep breath and we just did it."

"We're definitely proud of our kids of how we made a couple of adjustments," added Blake. "I think Iolani put us into some challenging spots and I'm really proud of our girls with how they stepped up and played to pull of the ‘W' today."