The seventh time is what mattered most to the Kamehameha Warriors.
Kalaweloilehua Chock, Kamana‘o‘okalani Goldstein and their deep lineup of playmakers made sure of it with a 25-16, 25-16, 15-25, 25-22 victory over top-seeded ‘Iolani on Saturday night in the final of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Girls Volleyball State Championships.
A raucous crowd at BYU-Hawaii’s Cannon Activities Center saw Kamehameha (25-9) make another remarkable run under coach Chris Blake. This is Kamehameha’s 25th state championship, including 13 under Blake. This year’s crown breaks the pattern. Since 2013, the Warriors had won state titles in odd-numbered years, including the ’23 championship.
‘Iolani, under Kainoa Obrey, had won states in every even-numbered year since ’16 with the exception of the cancelled ’20 season.
Chock clutched up with seven of her 17 kills in the final set to help the Warriors overcome a furious comeback try by the young Raiders.
“I feel amazing,” Chock said. “It was knowing to trust my team and know they have my back. Knowing our coaches have our back.”
Goldstein also had 17 kills, adding a team-high 19 digs. Kalamakuokana‘auao Crabbe had a huge contribution with 12 kills and six digs, while middles Alohalani Chun and Kealoha Lyons had seven kills each. Setter Tiahna Aldeguer dished 52 assists, adding one ace, 16 digs and one kill.
‘Iolani (24-7) had a season to remember despite the title-match loss. Poema Kalama-Kingma led the Raiders with 13 kills and added 15 digs. Callie Pieper had seven kills and 17 digs, two assists and one ace. Taimane Ainu‘u finished with five kills and two aces, with two blocks, two assists and 11 digs. Junior setter Bailey Nakanelua tallied 29 assists, four kills and 11 digs and Georgie Lee added five kills and six digs. Libero Maddix Taniguchi added eight digs.
A bright future is ahead of the Raiders. Obrey is looking forward to that future.
“The biggest thing is experience, how we can execute in this type of environment. How we can play good volleyball. We battled, though. We got behind and our kids had no quit in them. Kamehameha did their thing,” Obrey said. “I’m super proud of our kids. We gained a lot of experience and we’ll be better for it.”
‘Iolani finished the match hitting .081 against a rugged Kamehameha defense. Kamehameha hit .192.
“A lot of it is getting better every day. Our strength and conditioning staff are top notch. All the things we’re doing, grinding and getting better, are hard. That helps us hit our peak,” Blake said. “Our goal is to be at our best at the end of the season.”
It took much of the season, but Blake and his staff figured out personnel, and several players took well to their roles. This gave the Warriors depth and kept their starters relatively fresh, more so than most title contenders.
With just one starting senior, ‘Iolani’s youth sometimes showed in an overpowering first two sets by Kamehameha. Going into the third set, the Raiders were hitting .000 with 17 kills and 17 hitting errors against a tenacious Warriors defense.
‘Iolani regrouped and had a 4-2 lead in game three. After an ace by Ainu‘u, it was 9-6 and Raider Nation was cheering again. Two left-handed dump kills by Nakanelua and a kill by Lee helped open the lead to 13-7.
The turnaround continued as ‘Iolani’s serve had the Warriors off-balance as the Raiders took set three with relative ease. Was it enough momentum — and adrenaline — to carry into set four?
The Raiders were within a two-point deficit, but hitting errors allowed the Warriors to open a 14-10 lead in game four. Each time ‘Iolani retaliated, Chock and Goldstein answered with a kill.
After Chock nailed a right-side kill and Goldstein hammered one home from the left, Chun roofed a tip by Lee to give Kamehameha a 20-13 advantage.
By the time Nakanelua roofed Goldstein, the Raiders were within 21-17. Blake called time out, but ‘Iolani inched closer. Kalama-Kingma roofed Lyons, and Kalama-Kingma’s kill pulled ‘Iolani within 21-19.
After Chock’s back-row shot sailed long, the Raiders were down 21-20. Goldstein’s kill off a block stopped the bleeding temporarily. Chock then ended a long rally with a roof on Kalama-Kingma, opening Kamehameha’s lead to 23-20.
Annaura Reid-Gillet’s kill brought ‘Iolani within two, but Chock came through again with another kill off an ‘Iolani block. A roof by Reid-Gillet brought the lead down to two points again, but Chock left no doubt with a thunderous right-side kill that split two back-row defenders, bringing the koa trophy to Kapalama for a second year in a row.
In the end, Kamehameha’s latest chapter was much like the previous one. In 2023, Punahou won its first 11 matches in ILH play, but Kamehameha surged at the finish to win the state final — in four sets over the Buffanblu.
History, in a way, repeated itself on Saturday.
The Warriors, backed up by a loud student section, broke away from a 13-all game. Chock, Goldstein and Crabbe got their swings in as Kamehameha went on a 12-3 run to capture the opening set.
The run and the tsunami of emotion in Cannon Activities Center worked in Kamehameha’s favor. The Warriors opened with a 12-3 lead in the second set.
After a right-side kill by Chock, Kamehameha had a 16-6 edge. Chock then roofed Callie Pieper, stretching the lead to 17-6 with no end in sight for the Raiders. ‘Iolani never gave in, fighting for every point, but entered the third set down 2-0 in a best-of-five match for the first time this season.
Early in the ILH season, the young Raiders looked like a team sorted out from the MCU Universe. With probably their tallest team in program history, ‘Iolani went 9-0 in the regular season (round one). A home loss to Kamehameha in the double-elimination tournament (round two) revealed ‘Iolani to be mortal, at least for one night.
Since beating Kamehameha to win the ILH title, the Raiders did not lose a set at the state tournament, sweeping Kahuku and Kapolei to reach the final.
Their previous six meetings:
> Sept. 10, ‘Iolani def. Kamehameha (home) 21-25, 25-15, 25-15, 25-16
> Sept. 17, ‘Iolani (home) def. Kamehameha 25-17, 25-20, 27-29, 25-22
> Sept. 27, ‘Iolani def. Kamehameha (home) 25-20, 27-29, 25-21, 25-22
> Oct. 12, ‘Iolani (home) def. Kamehameha 22-25, 25-22, 25-14, 21-25, 15-13
> Oct. 17, Kamehameha def. ‘Iolani (home) 22-25, 25-22, 25-14, 21-25, 15-13
> Oct. 19, ‘Iolani (home) def. Kamehameha 20-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-22
KAMEHAMEHA DEF. ‘IOLANI
25-16, 25-16, 15-25, 25-22
WARRIORS (12-6)
S K E ATT PCT D BA PTS
Crabbe 412 7 38 .132 6 1 12.5
Lyons 4 7 4 20 .150 1 3 8.5
Chun 4 7 0 19 .368 2 6 11.0
Chock 4 17 8 50 .180 9 4 19.0
Goldstein 4 17 8 46 .196 19 2 18.0
Aldeguer 4 1 0 3 .333 16 2 3.0
Lum 4 0 0 0 .000 15 0 1.0
Iokia 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0.0
Iwanaga 1 0 0 1 .000 0 0 0.0
Palencia 4 0 0 0 .000 5 0 0.0
Kaniho 1 0 0 0 .000 1 0 0.0
MATCH 4 61 27 177 .192 74 18 73.0
RAIDERS (14-2)
S K E ATT PCT D BA PTS
Nakanelua 4 4 1 10 .300 11 1 4.5
Lee 4 5 3 22 .091 6 2 7.0
Klma-Kngmn413 9 46 .087 15 2 15.0
Pieper 4 7 7 46 .000 17 2 9.0
Reid-Gillet 4 4 1 8 .375 2 7 9.5
Ainuu 4 5 4 28 .036 11 4 9.0
Taniguchi 3 0 0 0 .000 8 0 0.0
Cacal 1 0 0 0 .000 1 0 0.0
Soma 1 0 0 0 .000 1 0 0.0
Kawakami 2 0 0 0 .000 5 0 0.0
MATCH 4 38 25 160 .081 77 18 54.0
Key — s: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors;
att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d:
digs; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills
plus blocks plus aces).
Service aces — Kamehameha 2 (Aldeguer, Lum). ‘Iolani 5 (Ainuu 2, Lee, Kalama-Kingman, Pieper). Service errors
— Kamehameha 8 (Chock 3, Aldeguer 2,
Iokia 2, Palencia). ‘Iolani 1 (Pieper). Assists — Kamehameha 60 (Aldeguer 52,
Lum 5, Chock 2, Crabbe). ‘Iolani 36 (Nakanelua 29, Pieper 2, Ainuu 2, Kawakami
2, Taniguchi). Block solos — Kamehameha
1 (Chun). ‘Iolani 2 (Reid-Gillet 2). Ball
handling errors — Kamehameha none.
‘Iolani none. Reception errors — Kamehameha 5 (Lum 3, Goldstein, Palencia). ‘Iolani 2 (Kawakami, TEAM). T—1:58. A—808.
Officials—Wayne Lee, Bonnie Gaison,
John Ehia, Blu Cajigal
