KS-Kapalama Powers Past Moanalua to Reach HHSAA Final

It will be a familiar scene in an unfamiliar place.

Kamehameha-Kapalama, the top seed in the New City Nissan / Hawai`i High School Athletic Association Division I Girls Volleyball Championship, will once again play for the tournament title after defeating Moanalua in straight sets at Koai`a Gym in Kea`au.

Set scores were 25-18, 25-22, 25-19.

Kamehameha-Kapalama (17-1) never trailed in the first set, thanks to four kills from junior middle blocker Kealani Browne and a .269 attack percentage. Na Menehune, however, committed four service errors and hit .129.

Moanalua (14-3) seemed to recover in the second set, taking advantage of a pair of errors to score four points in a row to lead 5-2. The Warriors got all three points back thanks to a service error from Silerolia Gaogao, an attack error from Johanna Kruize, and an ace from Mia Heirakuji.

Later in the set with Moanalua leading 20-19, senior Faith Ma`afala picked up one of her two kills to tie the set at 20. Defensive specialist Taylor Takeda subbed in and immediately served up an ace to give Kamehameha a 21-20 advantage, and Tiyana Hallums slammed down a kill to push the lead up another point, creating enough of a cushion to take the set.

Hallums led the Warriors with 11 kills and hit .333 for the match.

Ma`afala’s serve got the Warriors out to a great start in the third. She put together a pair of aces to power a 6-1 Warriors start in the frame. Kamehameha’s lead ballooned to as much as seven points before Moanalua fought back to get within two points at 21-19. The Warriors scored the next four points to close out the match.

Kamehameha-Kapalama tallied eight aces while recording 40 kills and a .219 attack percentage. Peyton Spragling contributed seven kills to back up the efforts of Browne and Hallums.

Gaogao led Na Menehune with 13 kills, but also recorded three service errors. Johanna Kruize added 11 kills and hit .290 for the match.

Kamehameha-Kapalama will face Punahou an an all-Interscholastic League of Honolulu final at 7:00 p.m. on the campus of Kamehameha-Hawai`i. The two teams have squared off in the tournament finale in each of the last five years. Punahou has won the last two state championships.

The championship match can be heard at ESPNHawaii.com.

Moanalua 18 22 19 – 0

Kamehameha-Kapalama 25 25 25 – 3

Big Island update

While the Big Island will host an all-ILH final, Oahu will host an all-Big Island Interscholastic Federation championship in the Division II tournament.

BIIF champion Hawai`i Preparatory Academy defeated Saint Francis in the semifinals to move on to Friday’s championship. Set scores were 25-18, 25-20, 25-20.

Gabbie Ewing tallied 27 kills and eight digs to lead Ka Makani to the title match.

Joining HPA will be Konawaena, who lost to Ka Makani in the BIIF championship match. The Wildcats defeated Waimea in straight sets to advance to the final.

Set scores were 25-20, 25-19, 25-23.

Chanelle Molina once again led the way for Konawaena. The sophomore put up 18 kills and 13 digs while her freshman sister, Celena, added eight kills and 18 digs.

The Division II final will be played at 7:00 p.m. on the campus of McKinley High School.