Devin Kahahawai drilled 16 kills, Maui Robins had 14 and Adrianna Arquette tallied 12 as unseeded Kamehameha defeated top seed Punahou 25-18, 25-15, 25-22 on Saturday for the Division I girls volleyball state championship.
Robins also had a team-high 15 digs as ILH runner-up Kamehameha (12-5) went the long route to claim its 11th state crown since 2005 under coach Chris Blake. It is the 23rd girls volleyball state title in school history. Kamehameha won the most recent state tourney in 2019, as well.
Sierra Scanlan had 22 assists and Marley Roe had 18. Roe also had two of her team’s five aces. Libero Payton Oliveira had seven digs and Scanlan had 12.
Punahou had beaten Kamehameha four times in five matches during ILH play.
“I think it was the best we’ve played all season and we were just able to play our game, which is something we weren’t doing during the first five times we played Punahou,” said Kahahawai, a 6-foot-3 outside hitter who spent the early season with the national team playing in Mexico.
Blake has always aimed for peak performance at the end of the season. He got that from this year’s squad, and he wasn’t surprised by the sweep.
“It definitely was our best match of the season. We want to play our best match in the last match. Talking to the players, knowing what they have to do. We talk about playing for those who played before us, those who play with us now, and those who will be following in their footsteps,” he said. “We talk about it not being a burden, but it’s a great honor to be able to have them with us.”
Kamehameha began tournament play on Monday with a 25-20, 25-17, 22-25, 25-17 win over Kapolei, then swept MIL champion Baldwin 25-9, 25-15, 25-16 on Thursday. Then came the big showdown with a hot Kahuku squad, but the Warriors won 25-13, 25-20, 25-15 on Friday to reach the final.
Punahou (12-3) has been the No. 1 team for the past five weeks, dating back to Nov. 8.
Punahou has won nine girls volleyball state championships. The most recent was in 2014 under Tanya Fuamatu-Anderson.
The opening set was close until Kamehameha turned on an extra gear and went on a 9-1 run to open a 16-7 lead. Punahou got no closer than six points the rest of the first set.
The second set was fairly close again in the opening stages until the Warriors turned a 6-all set into a 13-7 lead. The margin increased to 23-13 as the Warriors stunningly opened a 2-0 lead in the match.
Kamehameha led most of the way in set three, though Punahou pulled within 23-21 after a Warriors hitting error. Then came a net violation by Punahou, and Robins ended the match with a tip on the left side for a kill.
