Moanalua celebrates after beating Waianae in five sets Thursday night in the OIA Division I quarterfinals. CJ Caraang | SL

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_18101249_GVB_WNAE-MOA_CJCARAANG-2026.jpg - CJ Caraang | SL

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MILILANI — The Moanalua volleyball team wasn't ready to give up its crown just yet.

Na Menehune edged No. 10 Waianae in a five-set thriller in the OIA Division I quarterfinals for a 23-25, 25-20, 25-19, 21-25, 15-12 win Thursday night.

Moanalua, the reigning league champion, moves on to face Mililani in the semifinals next Monday in the second match at its own gym. Na Menehune also clinched a state berth into the New City Nissan D1 state tournament with the victory.

"It was a crazy match, we knew it was going to be a battle" said Moanalua coach Alan Cabanting, whose team improved to 10-2 with win. "I'm just really glad for this group. It's a really young group, but they were able to put it together."

Tayli Ikenaga had a double-double of 24 kills and 27 digs and Jeslyn Spencer put down 17 kills and had a hand in nine blocks to power Na Menehune.

Madison Williams added eight kills with five blocks, Rainbeau Oliveira had four kills, Alexis DeBina-Bautista chipped in three more and Amariis Garcia put down two kills with eight blocks to round out Moanalua's offense.

Other contributors for Na Menehune include Allexis Iramina and Aaliyah Allagonez, who had 31 and 21 assists respectively and Sonny Rodrigues with 12 digs.

Waianae took the first set, but Moanalua came out on fire in the second set with nine straight points.

Cabanting credited his team's three-set regular season wins over Kahuku and Farrington in getting back on track after dropping the opening set.

"They were a little bit more focused. We've been in situations like that before (so) that really helped us out to keep our nerves in check and just understand that we could do it as a team. It had to be a team effort so everyone on the court was contributing left and right so we were able to squeak by with that win."

Na Menehune won set two and set three, but the Seariders (9-3) came right back to tie the match in set four.

Moanalua came right back in the final set with two blocks to start the period. The two teams then traded points until the scored was tied at 12 before Na Menehune got three kills from three different players to end the match.

"They put it all together," said Cabanting. "I was waiting for them to do this, and to be able to do it for five sets was awesome."

Three Waianae players finished with double-digit kills to lead the Seariders in the loss. Cherise Borge had 16 kills with 14 digs, Heipua Tautuaa added 14 kills and 18 digs and Aleisha Wagner-Roman chipped in 11 kills for Waianae.