Keanu Kawaa was ready for the challenge.

Becoming a volleyball champion at Moanalua meant that much to the 6-foot-4 senior, who had 22 kills, four aces and a block to power Na Menehune to a 25-17, 25-13, 25-22 sweep of previously unbeaten Mililani for the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I boys volleyball championship.

“I feel exhausted,” Moanalua coach Alan Cabanting.

A raucous crowd of around 400 watched at muggy James Alegre Gymnasium on the campus of Radford High School. Moanalua (13-0) won its ninth D-I OIA title in the last 10 seasons, including eight under coach Alan Cabanting. Since Mililani (12-1) won the league crown in 2017, Moanalua won the next two before COVID-19 restrictions led to the cancellation of league and state playoffs in ’20 and ’21.

“After coming from this pandemic that we had and not being able to play for two years, to get the boys back there, everybody that loves the game of volleyball to just come out here and compete like we did today, absolutely wonderful,” said Cabanting, a science teacher at Moanalua.

Moanalua had a 9-3 edge in blocks with five by Keola Demello and three by Christian Tafao. Tafao also had. seven kills and Ho added five. AJ Matsumoto (20 assists) and Malu Wilcox (19 assists, ace) were nearly flawless directing the attack.

Na Menehune won the first two sets in similar fashion. In game one, it was 5-4 before Moanalua went on an 18-10 run, riding the power, precision and versatility of Kawaa, who had six kills and two aces.

Game two was 4-3 when Na Menehune embarked on a 19-8 run. Tafao brought defense to the hilt with one block and middle Demello tallied three blocks to boost Moanalua. Another ace by Kawaa during the run helped Moanalua cruise to a 2-0 lead in the match.

Kawaa had eight more kills during the second set. Cabanting subbed him out on game point before he got to serve again.

“Funny thing is, I took him out and he’s like, ‘Coach…” and I said, I know, I know, but in the third set is when I need you to go,” Cabanting said. “He had a couple of aces in the third set at the most critical times. The third set is when it’s going to matter.”

Mililani brought a little more fire in game three and led 9-7 with a block by Stephen Kanuch and an ace by Brayden Yadao. The lead changed hands twice more before Na Menehune used a 14-7 run to take control. Kawaa had a block during the run as Moanalua opened a 21-16 lead en route to the sweep.

“Coach just told us keep things simple, don’t get too fancy with our hits, our shots and our plays. Play our game as we did through the post-season,” said Kawaa, who hit .543 and saw Mililani’s constant service pressure all night.

In the third set, he had eight kills and two aces. As Mililani’s double block became effective, Kawaa countered with cross-body hits.

“They would take my angle so I started going line,” he said.

Kawaa has a 36-inch vertical.

“Going into the next level of volleyball, I’m going to be a shorter height compared to other players up there, so I’m going to have to increase my vertical to the 40s,” he said.

Manase Fetulimoeata led Mililani with seven kills and Brayden Yadao added six kills, two aces and a block. Brycen Yadao had four kills, an ace and 17 assists, Kanuch added four kills and two blocks, and James Saffery tallied four kills and eight assists.

“No. 13 (Fetulimoeata) was their big hitter, so we had to really take him out of it, so we put the pressure on the serve and whenever we could, we served him,” Cabanting said.

Moanalua opened its playoff run with a 25-11, 25-10, 25-18 quarterfinal sweep of Waipahu, which had upset Kahuku. Then came a 25-13, 25-17, 25-14 semifinal sweep of Kaiser.

Moanalua played in the Clash of the Titans two weeks ago.

“We learned we can’t be hitting the ball straight down,” Kawaa said. “We’re going to be facing bigger and stronger blocks, so we’ve got to keep things high, go farther and stay simple. We can’t get fancy. I feel like we improved from that Clash of the Titans tournament and we learned a lot.”

Mililani had won its 12 previous matches in OIA play by sweep with two exceptions, four-set wins over Pearl City and Kapolei.