The Le Jardin girls volleyball team celebrates after capturing the school's second straight state title. Crizalmer Caraang Jr. | SL

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KAKAAKO — Julia Fisher and Natalie Piper capped their senior season by combining for 45 kills to help top-seeded Le Jardin beat Hawaii Baptist Academy in four sets to successfully defend its New City Nissan/HHSAA Division II Girls Volleyball State Championship Saturday night at the Blaisdell Arena.

The Bulldogs (16-1) downed the Eagles (13-5) by scores of 25-23, 25-14, 22-25 and 25-16.

"It's an amazing feeling," Piper said. "It feels so good, especially being a senior and getting it. We checked off all the boxes this year. We got the ILH championship as well as the state champ. It feels amazing to be able to do it."

Piper and Fisher had been to the state title game three consecutive years. They lost to the Eagles as sophomores before winning the next two seasons. Last year, it took Bulldogs five sets to dethrone the Eagles. This time, the Bulldogs needed just four. But overall, they felt this title season was harder.

"We had the underdog effect with the whole sophomore year having never being in states," Piper said. "Junior year, we hadn't won yet. So winning that and coming back to defend a state title is even harder."

Added Le Jardin coach Lee Lamb: "I was worried about the letdown. You win one (title), you have the target on your back. Everyone's going to gun for you. The girls just did a great job this year."

Although the Bulldogs won in four, the match was much closer than the scores might indicate. Both teams had incredible rallies throughout the match in part to some great passing. The Bulldogs registered 82 digs, led by libero Kailee Lyons' 26. The Eagles had 78 digs, 22 by Ally Wada and 19 by Naiya Fujikawa.

But one of the big differences was the setting of freshman Nive Tuileta, who recorded 48 assists.

"We had Nive come in at the last second," Lamb said. "That was a big boost for us. That helped solidify the lineup a little bit."

"She's amazing," said Fisher of Tuileta. "Her setting is always on location. She's has a calm presence. She's still working into that leadership role, but I think next year and the years that follow she'll step up and become that leader. Hopefully, I helped her get there. I think overall, she's just an amazing player."

The first set set the tone for the night. The set was tied three times, the last at 21. Le Jardin pulled away to 24-21, only to see the Eagles pull to 24-23 with Fujikawa serving. But her service error ended the set in favor of the Bulldogs.

"That was important," Lamb said. "You don't want to get down to a team like HBA. You can breathe a little easier — not much easier — once you get that first set. I thought that was really important for us."

Said Fisher: "I think things would've turned out a lot differently if we hadn't done that. Honestly, this game, we did not take them lightly. They're a great team, so for us to be able to win that first set was huge."

The second set started close, but the Bulldogs eventually pulled away with a double digit margin of victory.

However, the Eagles battled back in the third. After trailing 12-6, the Eagles fought back to tie the set at 18. They eventually held leads at 21-20 and 22-21 before the Bulldogs tied the set at 22 after a double contact violation. But Kallie Langford, who led the Eagles with 24 kills, registered three consecutive kills to pull her team to within one set.

The Bulldogs pulled ahead 12-6 at one juncture, only to see the Eagles tie it at 13 after two kills by Langford and three consecutive blocks. But Le Jardin used an 8-1 run to pull away and saw the match end the way the first set ended: on a service error by HBA.

"We fought to the very end," HBA coach Myles Shioji said. "We knew it was going to be a tough match. We knew what we had to do to take care of business. Unfortunately, we came up a little short."

The back-to-back titles were especially rewarding to Fisher, who saw older brothers Caleb and Michael combine for seven consecutive Division II boys' state titles.

"My two older brothers came and won four consecutive championship, well, seven really," Fisher said, "so it's nice to keep that family tradition. I'm proud to say that I'm a Bulldog and I'm happy to end my season with a bang."