Iolani, Kamehameha to meet again in Division I title match

Rayden Aoki | SL

For the seventh time this season, the Raiders and Warriors will take to the hardwood to face off against each other, with the winner of this one hoisting a koa head trophy.

Iolani beat Kapolei and Kamehameha got past Moanalua, both matches in straight set sets, to once again set up an all-ILH title game in the New City Nissan/HHSAA Division I Girls Volleyball Championships.

Set scores were 25-18, 25-20 and 25-9 in the Raiders' win over the Hurricanes, and 25-23, 25-18 and 25-19 for the Warriors over Na Menehune.

Both teams have collectively won the last eight state titles at the Division I level, the defending champion Warriors have won five, with the Raiders winners of three crowns since 2016.

Iolani, who has spent every week this season atop the Power Rankings, saw close games in set one and two before rolling in set three. Three hitters reached double digits for the Raiders, led by Georgie Lee's 11 kills and 3 blocks. Poema Kalama-Kingma had 11 kills and a block, and Taimae Ainuu had a double-double performance, with 10 blocks and 10 digs.

The Raiders had more kills (46 to 25), hit for a better percentage (.259 to .096) and registered more aces (5 to 1) and blocks (10 to 3) than Na Menehune over the course of three sets.

Kala Chock and Kamanao Goldstein notched 12 and 10 kills respectively, with Kealoha Lyons contributing eight kills and six total blocks to pace Kamehameha, who were tested in its three set win over Moanalua, hitting just .154 for the match while being outblocked statistically 19 to 14.

But the Warriors got the points when it needed it most, breaking a deadlocked set one late with the final two points with the score knotted at 23-all, punctuated by a kill by Kala Crabbe to take the opening game.

Set two saw a bit more late game momentum for the Warriors, who jumped out to a 21-16 lead on a Melahi Palencia ace and rolled to a 25-18 result.

Then in set three, Kamehameha basically led wire-to-wire, holding a steady margin of at least three points throughout, and used a 6-2 run to close out the match, ending it on a kill by Goldstein.

Zaria Queen had a match-high 14 kills and Nora-Ramsey Casey led all players with a block solo and seven block assists for Na Menehune in the loss.

Iolani leads the season series over Kamehameha, 5-1, with the lone loss for the Raiders coming on Oct. 17 in five sets.