No. 10 Moanalua kept alive its hopes for a repeat OIA girls volleyball championship by tipping Waianae in a grueling, five-set quarterfinal, 21-25, 25-19, 25-20, 23-25, 15-12, at the Mililani gym Thursday night.

Solid defense and in-system offense on both sides of the net made for frequent marathon rallies and unyielding effort until the final ball touched the ground.

“Both teams played their best game,” said coach Thia Palakiko of unseeded Waianae (9-3). “They just had a few better plays than us. We’re still in. We’ve got Monday.”

A consolation-bracket win on Monday against Radford would put Waianae into the state Division I tournament.

With the win, Na Menehune (10-2) clinched a spot in states. They’ll host Mililani on Monday in the league semifinals, and a victory there would give them a shot at a fourth league title in the last five years.

On Thursday, Moanalua outside hitter Tayli Ikenaga pounded 24 kills and added 27 digs to lead the way against Waianae. Jeslyn Spencer delivered 17 kills with four blocks and Madison Williams contributed seven kills and six blocks. With Amariis Garcia adding four blocks, Na Menehune had a distinct advantage in the middle.

“There were times I thought we were going to lose,” Ikenaga said, “but I still wanted every ball to come to me — not to be cocky, but I knew I could make a play off of every ball.”

Three Waianae hitters finished with more than 10 kills, with setter Christen Guzman (46 assists) spreading it around liberally to Cherish Borge (17 kills), Heipua Tautua‘a (12), Aleisha Wagner-Roman (11) and Kiana Hensley (8).

“It sucks that we lost,” Guzman said. “But knowing we gave our all, I know I can walk away with my head high. We left everything on the court tonight.”

After a 5-all tie in the deciding set, Moanalua led the rest of the way, starting with a Williams block. The Seariders got it to 12-12 before Na Menehune wrapped it up with consecutive kills from Williams, Spencer and Ikenaga and spilled on the court in celebration.

“This is the most complete match we’ve played the entire year,” Moanalua coach Alan Cabanting said.

The first set had eight ties and three lead changes before Waianae prevailed. Moanalua sprinted out to a 9-0 lead in the second and never trailed. In the third, Na Menehune controlled the pace and eventually cruised home after four early ties, including the last at 11-11. In the fourth frame, the Seariders — with leads of 6-1, 12-6 and 17-11 — dominated.

“We have to challenge Mililani, and that’s going to be really tough,” Moanalua’s Ikenaga said. “But I think we can pull it off if we transfer the energy from the way we played tonight to the next game.”