Mililani players celebrate a five-set victory over Castle. Scott Nishi | SL

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Mililani setter Casie Gaza sets up a teammate for a kill attempt against Castle. Scott Nishi | SL

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MILILANI - After a grueling, nearly two-hour long match finally came to a close Tuesday night, Mililani head coach Val Crabbe just could not contain her happiness following her team's five-set win over Castle.

A mostly pro-Mililani crowd of about 500 at the Trojans' home court saw the hosts improve to 12-0 and advance to Wednesday's third-round of the double-elimination Oahu Interscholastic Association Red Division Tournament. The scores were 15-25, 23-25, 25-19, 25-20 and 15-13. Mililani, which won the Red West and drew a first-round bye in the 12-team tournament, qualified for the HHSAA state tournament with the win over the Knights, who fell to 9-4.

When the Trojans' Casie Gaza ended the match on her surprise quick set over the net - which came on the second contact - on match point, Crabbe was clearly elated, letting out a brief victory dance in celebration.

"It was extremely stressful," said a visibly drained Crabbe, who was quick with lineup changes following a woeful first game. "The first set was the lineup we played with all season, but when it wasn't happening in the first set, we just switched to the lineup you saw in game two, which we've been working on during practices and throughout the season, but this was the first time we played with that."

Crabbe said the main difference was going from two setters to one.

"We haven't played with a 5-1 (offense) all season, but it worked a lot better, so I just stayed with that," said Crabbe.

The Trojans opened game five with a Jordyn Keamo kill, followed by consecutive kills by Alyssa Tanaka to take an early 3-0 lead. However, the Knights pulled ahead 9-8 after a Trojan error capped a 4-0 Castle run. Mililani took a timeout trailing 12-10 and Kawai Fernandez's ensuing kill extended the Knights lead to 13-10. But, Castle committed back-to-back errors to make it 13-12 before Keamo slammed down her third kill of the game to tie it at 13. A Knights' overpass on Emilee Craig's serve was put down by Tanaka to give Mililani the lead and match point. Gaza ended the match a play later with her kill.

"It was definitely a team effort," said Gaza, a junior setter. "I think everybody looked to everybody and found the best in each other and I think that's really what changed throughout the match."

Castle ran away with the opening game, using an 8-0 run to take it, 25-15. Game two was closer, but the Knights' got a late 6-0 run and held off a Mililani charge to win it, 25-23. However, the Trojans reversed the tides in the third game, getting six kills from Keamo to run away with it, 25-19. Mililani kept it going in game four and led by as many as seven at 20-13. Campbell closed to within three at 21-18, but could get no closer and Inoa Fields closed it out at 25-20 with her roll shot.

The Trojans will play Red East runner-up Kaiser in a third-round game that will follow the 5 p.m. matchup between Kahuku and Moanalua at McKinley. Castle will play Campbell in a losers' bracket match Wednesday at Radford.