Sacred Hearts' Shawna Thompson (left), Le Jardin's Alishya Roman (right) and their respective teams will face the likes of Iolani's Elena Oglivie and the Raiders — the reigning Division I state champions — in the regular season under the ILH’s new format for girls volleyball. CJ Caraang | SL

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A breakdown of the number of Division I girls volleyball teams and state tourney berths for each league during the 2018 season. sportshigh.com

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A look at how the third Division I state berth and league champion will be decided. courtesy Deren Oshiro

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A look at how the third ILH berth into the state tournament will be decided. courtesy Deren Oshiro

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Four girls volleyball teams from the Interscholastic League of Honolulu will move up from Division II to Division I for the upcoming 2019 season, ILH girls volleyball coordinator Deren Oshiro confirmed.

Oshiro said the teams making the jump consist of current D2 state champion Sacred Hearts, Mid-Pacific, Hawaii Baptist and Le Jardin, which brings the total number of ILH teams in D1 from four to eight.

With eight D1 teams for the upcoming season, the ILH will receive a third berth into the D1 state tournament, Hawaii High School Athletic Association executive director Chris Chun confirmed.

Chun added that the Oahu Interscholastic Association would have five D1 state berths for the upcoming season, one less from what it was previously. The HHSAA uses a representation formula to determine the amount of berths each league receives, which is based upon participating teams in each league versus the total number teams in the state that compete in that sport and division.

A breakdown of the number of Division I girls volleyball teams and state tourney berths for each league during the 2018 season.

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_19072531_2018D1GVBstates.jpg - sportshigh.com

The increased amount of ILH teams in D1 is part of a one-year pilot program, Oshiro said. The ILH classifies its member schools based on enrollment size, but the league is tweaking the classification range for the upcoming girls volleyball season, said Oshiro. The pilot program does not change the classification criteria still in place for all other ILH sports, Oshiro added.

Mid-Pacific and Sacred Hearts were already considered D1 schools before the pilot program was enacted, but they have been participating in D2 for girls volleyball after the ILH allowed two divisional exemptions per gender prior to the 2017 season.

The ILH D1 teams for the 2019 season will be divided into two quadrants that will be separated by enrollment size, Oshiro said. The top four schools with the most students will be in one quadrant while the next four will be in the other.

ILH Division I
Quadrant One
-Punahou
-Kamehameha
-Iolani
-Mid-Pacific

Quadrant Two
-Sacred Hearts
-Maryknoll
-Hawaii Baptist
-Le Jardin*

Oshiro added that Damien was initially the eighth team that was going to be in D1 based on enrollment size before Le Jardin asked to move up. The Bulldogs were in the D2 state title match the past four years and won back-to-back championships in 2016-17.

Each D1 team will play each team within its quadrant twice and will face every team in the other quadrant once for a total of 10 regular season matches, said Oshiro.

The team that finishes with the best record from each quadrant will clinch a state berth into the D1 state tournament, Oshiro said. Teams that are tied for the best record within a quadrant will have a playoff to decide who gets the state berth, which is based on a league rule.

The six teams that do not win their respective quadrant will take part in a single-elimination tournament to determine the ILH's third participant in the D1 state tourney, Oshiro said.

Meanwhile, the two quadrant winners will go head-to-head with the victor advancing directly to the ILH D1 championship game. The loser between the two quadrant winners will await to face the team that clinches the league’s third D1 state berth. The winner of this match will then meet the other quadrant winner for the league’s overall title.

A detailed look at what the ILH D1 postseason (also known as second round) is pictured below.

A look at how the third Division I state berth and league champion will be decided.

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_19072522_2019ILHD1.jpg - courtesy Deren Oshiro

Oshiro said the purpose of the new format was to create a diverse schedule with a variety of opponents in the regular season for D1.

With just four teams to fill out a whole D1 schedule in league play the past two years, the D1 teams ended up playing each other multiple times throughout the season. When Iolani and Kamehameha met for the D1 state title last season, it was the seventh time that the two teams squared off that year.

“It just wasn’t a schedule that the Division I schools enjoyed,” Oshiro said.

The new format benefits all parties involved. The bigger D1 schools will have a good mix of teams to face during the season while the quadrant system gives schools that would be D2 under normal classification criteria a chance at reaching the state tournament.

“The main objective was to provide a more balanced schedule for the larger schools while affording the smaller schools a legitimate opportunity to participate in the state tournament,” said Oshiro.

With less teams in D2, the ILH will have just three berths in the state tourney, one less than what it had the past two years. Oshiro said the top two ILH D2 teams in the regular season will clinch state berths while the other three eligible ILH D2 teams and the ILH D3 champion will take part in a tournament to determine who gets the third ILH D2 state berth.

A look at how the third ILH berth into the state tournament will be decided.

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_19072503_2019ILHD2.jpg - courtesy Deren Oshiro

The regular season for ILH D2 and D3 teams will be similar to D1, but with more matches. The five D2 teams and five D3 teams will have a double round-robin format within their respective divisions for eight matches, Oshiro said. In addition, D2 and D3 ILH teams will play across divisions once for a total of 13 matches.

Oshiro also added that D1-AA ILH teams will have their own format entirely and will just play against other D1-AA teams for the entire regular season.