Sparked by 14 kills from sophomore reserve Lepeka Kalulu-Sugai, Kahuku rallied past Pearl City, 20-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-18, last night in O'ahu Interscholastic Association girls volleyball playoff action at McKinley.

The two-time defending champion Red Raiders improved to 12-2 in league play and will face Eastern Division champ Moanalua (13-1) in Tuesday's semifinals, also at McKinley. First serve is set for around 7 p.m., or about 25 minutes after a 5 p.m. elimination match.

West champion Pearl City (12-2) falls into today's 5 p.m. elimination match against West runner-up Mililani (11-3) at McKinley.

Kahuku looked to be in trouble early last night, trailing one game to none and 12-7 in the second set. But Kalulu-Sugai, a 5-foot-7 outside hitter, had three straight kills to cap an 8-0 run and put the Red Raiders up, 15-12.

The Chargers later took the lead back at 17-16 and went ahead, 20-17, after a Kahuku serving error. But a Pearl City serving error started an 8-3 run by the Red Raiders -- capped by Kalulu-Sugai's kill -- that closed out the set and evened the match at a game apiece.

"We got caught in one rotation, and they were picking out areas where they wanted us to make passes," Chargers coach Stephanie Shigemasa said. "I think it would have made a big difference if we had won that second set. Mentally, it was a momentum switch."

Kahuku rode that momentum into Game 3, using an 8-1 spurt to jump ahead, 11-6. Pearl City later closed it to 20-17, but Kalulu-Sugai had three kills to highlight a 5-1 run to close out the set and put the Red Raiders ahead, two games to one.

"We just had to keep our heads high and not worry about making mistakes," Kalulu-Sugai said. "We had to start strong and finish strong."

The Chargers started strong in Game 4, taking leads of 4-0 and 11-7. But senior outside hitter Ho'onani Apo slammed three kills to spark a 9-0 run that swung the momentum Kahuku's way for good. Pearl City closed it to 19-17, but Teuila Nautu served a pair of aces to highlight a 6-1 run capped by another Kalulu-Sugai kill to end the match.

Kaniela Kalama, the Red Raiders' first-year head coach, said improved serve-receive played a big role in the comeback victory.

"We're still trying to figure out who our passers are," Kalama said. "We switched liberos and started putting our passes together, and I think that settled us down. We had never seen Pearl City until yesterday, so we just had to adjust."

Elizabeth Blake led Kahuku with 15 kills and Apo added 11 kills, two aces and a block.

Mililani swept McKinley, 25-18, 25-21, and Castle knocked off Kailua, 25-14, 25-22, in elimination matches at Radford.

In OIA White Conference second round action, Roosevelt swept Radford, 25-15, 25-14, 25-15, and Kalaheo swept Leilehua, 25-18, 25-21, 25-14.