The Le Jardin girls volleyball team celebrate after winning a tough set one, 25-23. The Bulldogs also won set two by the same score to hand HBA its first loss of the year. Sylvia Lee | SL

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KAILUA — Le Jardin got its first-ever win over Hawaii Baptist with a 25-23, 25-23 straight set win at Reed C. K. Olaso Court Tuesday night.

Natalie Piper and Kassidy Naone combined for 15 kills to help the Bulldogs defeat the visiting Eagles in a rematch of last year's Division II state title game. 

Le Jardin, who suffered its first loss of the year in a three-set match to Damien, improved to 5-1 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II standings. The Bulldogs also handed Hawaii Baptist (5-1) its first loss of the year as the two teams and the Monarchs (5-1) pulled into a three-way tie for first place in the league.

"We were trying to be detail oriented," said Le Jardin coach Lee Lamb. "Last year is last year, that's in the past. We're just really focused on trying to get back to (the championship game). We're just taking it one game at a time.

"We had a tough loss against Damien. We felt we had something to prove to ourselves, not necessarily to prove that we can beat HBA, but to prove that we can play a complete match." 

Lee said that the loss to Damien taught the Bulldogs to never let up against their opponent and to always keep their feet on the gas pedal. The lesson learned helped Le Jardin against the Bulldogs as it was able make the necessary plays down the stretch to close out each set. 

"Tight matches, that's exactly what we needed for this team at this point, just to make sure that we learn how to finish," said Lamb.

It also helped that the Bulldogs were playing at home in front of a spirited crowd. Le Jardin's fans also gained reinforcements after the opening set when the boys water polo team joined the fold — straight from the swimming pool. 

"That was the difference," Le Jardin setter Nina Krupa said of the home crowd. "I think (Damien's) crowd got into our heads and I think our crowd got into HBA's head today. We were also much more composed in this game than the last game."

Krupa did a solid job running the Bulldogs' offense, finishing with 18 assists to go along with two aces, two kills and one block assist.

Piper did most of her work in the first set, picking up six of match-high nine kills in the opening game. 

"Natalie is really good with her different shots and she can be really smart with the ball and she's really athletic," Krupa said of Piper, who also had 10 digs. 

Naone, the reigning ILH Division II Player of the Year, put down four of her six total kills in the second set to carry the Bulldogs late in the match.

"I can always count on her," Krupa said of Naone. "I definitely have to pass a lot of the credit to her because we depend on her a lot. We expect her to get kills and we expect to win the game because of her. So if she's down, we're all down. She's the heart of the team."

Julia Fisher added four kills and Arianna Lunow-Luke chipped in three more to round out the Bulldogs' attack. Libero Kailee Lyons had a match-high 16 digs to lead Le Jardin's defense.

Hawaii Baptist, who won all three meeting against the Bulldogs in 2015, will look to bounce back Saturday afternoon when it hosts Damien.

"Every match is a good test for us," said Hawaii Baptist coach Myles Shioji. "Everybody wants to come out and play their best match against us. We just have to be able to rise to the occasion."

Nanea Lum and Kallie Langford led the Eagles' attack seven and six kills respectively. Junior setter Ally Wada had 16 assists and two block assists while senior libero Kailey Young finished with 15 digs.