Marissa Behrens and Taylaor Dayton block a Faith Ma'afala kill. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Punahou outside hitter Carly gets set to make contact on a kill attempt. Kan was named the Division I tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Tayler Higgins kisses the New City Nissan/HHSAA Division I girl's volleyball championship trophy. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Kamehameha-Kapalama OH Pomai Recca makes a kill attempt against Punahou. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Tayler Higgins pops the ball over the net past KS-Kapalama blockers. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Punahou players celebrate after winning their second consecutive Division I title. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Evan Asato | Special to SL

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In a word, electrifying.

Punahou brought down ILH rival Kamehameha to claim a hard-earned Division I title for a second straight year in a four set thriller, 25-15, 18-25, 25-16, 25-23.

As if it was the last game of their lives, Punahou and Kamehameha threw everything they had onto the court in the first two sets, with Punahou swiftly taking game one, 25-15, after cashing in on a series of Kamehameha errors, while Kamehameha resiliently struck back with a late rally to snatch game two away from Punahou, 25-18. 

“I thought that we really had to fight back because Kamehameha (kept) coming back (too),” said Carly Kan. “They got so much talent on that team, we really just had to keep going and fighting.” 

Kamehameha kept up their tenacity in the opening of game three, matching with Punahou with each exchange, until a kill by Brittney Markwith at 11-10 changed the flow of the game in Punahou's favor, as the Buffanblu took advantage of Warrior passing errors with strong serving by Tayler Higgins’, Carly Kan, and Shannel Chong. 

Kamehameha would surrender game three on a hitting error, 25-16.

The loss of the third set was a wake-up call for Kamehameha, and the Warriors charged forward at the start of game four and took the lead with the help of Pomai Recca, Faith Ma'afala, and a number of Punahou errors at 4-0.

“They (Kamehameha) defended at times really well, especially in game two and game four,” said Punahou coach Peter Balding, “they came out and took it to us for probably two-thirds of the game.”

But Punahou eventually rallied all the way back, as Claire Feeley slammed in a kill set by Tayler Higgins to tie the score at 22-all. A Kan hitting error would give Kamehameha their lead back at 23-22, but Higgins would set up another kill opportunity for Feeley, who spiked it in again and tied to score once again at 23.

“I said we just gotta chip away, we gotta play our game,” Balding explained. 

Higgins orchestrated an opportunity for Taylor Dayton to make a kill, and she did, which gave Punahou the lead back, 24-23, forcing Kamehameha to call another timeout. 

The crowd became near-deafening. The suspense was not to be replaced with silence. Only cheers of excitement filled the air as fans of Punahou screamed while waiting for the minute-long timeout to end. 

After Kan served, Kamehameha's kill attempt was blocked by Claire Feeley and Taylor Dayton to notch in the final point, 25-23, resulting in a Punahou win.

“Winning that last one (point), that was the best feeling in the world,” said Kan. 

Kan notched in 17 kills and 12 digs and was named the Division I tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Tayler Higgins added 37 assists, 3 kills, 9 digs, and an ace and Taylor Dayton 9 kills, 3 blocks, 12 digs, and an ace.

Kamehameha's Pomai Recca marked in 14 kills, followed by Tiyana Hallums and Pikake Laumauna with 12 and seven spikes respectively.

New City Nissan/HHSAA Division I Girls Volleyball All-Tournament Team
compiled by HHSAA staff

OH - Adora Anae, Kahuku
OH - Carly Kan, Punahou
OH - Jordyn Keamo, Mililani
OH - Pomai Recca, Kamehameha
S - Penina Snuka, Kahuku
S - Tayler Higgins, Punahou
U - Alohi Robins-Hardy, Kamehameha
DS/L - Julia Lau, Punahou    

Most Outstanding Player: Carly Kan, Punahou