Kapolei middle Mikey Pililaau puts down a kill against Waiakea. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Michelyn Pililaau and Amryi Paris combined for 29 kills to lead Kapolei in a 25-17, 25-13, 20-25, 25-13 win over fourth-seeded Waiakea in quarterfinals of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Division I Girls Volleyball State Championships at McKinley's Student Council Gynmasium on Thursday.

The Hurricanes, the Oahu Interscholastic Association runner-up, advance to face Kamehameha in the semifinals at McKinley on Friday.

"I knew we could make it this far. But just to get there is getting surreal," said Paris.

The Warriors, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation and No. 6 team in the Power Rankings, drop to the consolation bracket to face Mililani at Moanalua.

"We always play them and it's always hard," said Kapolei setter Olivia Transfiguracion, who had 49 assists to go along with an ace, a kill, and three digs.

"We didn't really know what to expect, they were coming over as Big Island's number one. Last year we had to go there and they were really tough. They play with a lot of emotion," said Kapolei coach Naidah Gamurot, on facing Waiakea.

The Hurricanes hit .413 for the game. Pililaau had a game-high 16 kills, Paris added 13 kills. Alexis Mareko was a force in the middle for 10 kills, two aces, and four blocks.

"Mikey (Michelyn) had a tough job because they had two or three blockers committed on her. She was getting frustrated because she wanted to hit, but at that point, it wasn't her job to hit, it was her job to keep those blockers at bay," said Gamurot.

"Amryi was hitting well and Alexis (Mareko) was hitting well. Mareko was hitting well out of the middle and Amryi was able to see the block. A lot of that was they were able to see the single block from the outside."

Warriors trimmed down the deficit to one, 15-14 following two aces by Jordyn Hayashi and a rotation error on Kapolei, but could get no closer. The Hurricanes went on a 10-3 run to capture the first set.

"We had the momentum and played cleaned and did what we were supposed to do," said Paris.

The Hurricanes landed six total service aces in the match.

Kapolei picked off where it left off and took a 11-5 lead to start the second set. A 5-1 run gave the Hurricanes a 10-point lead and led 19-7 to force Waiakea to call timeout. Waiakea was able to cut the deficit to nine at one point, but it was all Kapolei by double digits.

"We worked on starting the game strong. We usually start slow so we wanted to get ahead first," said Transfiguracion.

"I think we played more uptempo. We played the way we wanted to play," said Gamurot, on the first two sets.

Jordyn Hayashi had a team-high 11 digs to go along with four aces, Angel Navor had 24 of Waiakea's 30 assists, and Kayla Kahauolopua hit .098 with 13 kills for the Warriors
who tied it up at 5 and 10 before Waiakea took a 13-11 lead and never wavered.

Kapolei got no closer than three as the Warriors capitalized on multiple Kapolei side outs and errors and led, 21-16 and refused to be swept to send it to a fourth set.

"I think there was miscommunication and our passes," said Transfiguracion, on dropping the third set.

"We got slow. It's like we got hypnotized or something and that was not good. I told them it was going to happen, they don't always believe me," said Gamurot.

The Hurricanes reasserted itself to take control of the fourth set to handle the Warriors. Similar to the second set, Kapolei pulled away to lead by as much as 12 and closed out the game with a 7-1 run.

"We talked about keeping the momentum on our side and doing what we have to do," said Paris, on the difference from the third and fourth set.