Extended scoring runs helped Kamehameha stretch its streak of state championship appearances to 14 in a sweep of King Kekaulike on Friday.
The second-seeded and defending state champion Warriors have been a fixture in the final since 2003 and earned a shot at the program’s 21st title with a 25-10, 25-16, 25-18 win over the third-seeded Na Alii in the semifinals of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Division I Girls Volleyball State Championships at McKinley.
The Warriors opened up a 15-5 lead in the first set and closed the second on a 15-2 run. An eight-point surge midway through the third all but assured Kamehameha a berth in tonight’s Division I final set for 7 p.m. at Blaisdell Arena. King Kekaulike will play for third place at 3:30.
As in Thursday’s quarterfinal sweep of Kapolei, defense again played a central role in Kamehameha’s quest to defend its title.
“I thought we had a pretty good defensive performance again tonight,” said Kamehameha coach Chris Blake, who already owns a record eight titles. “(King Kekaulike) did a couple of different things in the beginning we haven’t seen before and I think our team did a great job of adjusting.”
Sophomore middle Braelyn Akana led Kamehameha with nine kills in 14 swings and hit .571. Setter Lexis Akeo, another sophomore, distributed 26 assists while putting down four kills of her own and the Warriors hit .330 as a team.
“It makes my job so much easier because I have such awesome players to play with,” Akeo said.
King Kekaulike made its first appearance in the state semifinals since 1999 — and the first for a Maui Interscholastic League team since 2011 — with one of its leaders at less than full strength. Junior outside hitter Chandler Cowell hurt her knee late in Thursday’s quarterfinal win against Kalaheo and didn’t start Friday’s match.
Even so, Cowell again led Na Alii with 11 kills a night after posting 24 against Kalaheo, But getting the ball through the Kamehameha defense consistently proved problematic for Na Alii, who hit .077 for the match.
“There’s so little room for error,” King Kekaulike coach Al Paschoal said. “They execute extremely well in all phases of the game. They served tough, they were passing lights out for most of the night, they just keep coming at you. They made some unbelievable defensive plays.
“(Na Alii were) a little disappointed, they wanted to show a little better than that. There were some sparks where they were playing some very good ball. It was being able to sustain that level of play.”
After Kamehameha rolled through the first set, King Kekaulike edged ahead early in the second set and led 14-10 on Cowell’s third kill of the set. But after Akeo tipped over a kill, Kamehameha senior Kayla Afoa served the next 10 points for the Warriors and had two aces in the 11-0 run, which she capped with back-to-back kills from the back row.
“She’s such a versatile player and her being one of our captains the last couple years I think she definitely stepped up to the task when we needed it,” Blake said.
Kili Robins was on the service line for the decisive run in the third set and finished with eight kills and the Warriors finished off their 14th straight semifinal victory.
