Thanks in part to a late-season wrinkle, Hawaii Baptist Academy rebounded from its first loss of the ILH season to recapture the league’s Division II title.

After losing to Sacred Hearts on Tuesday, the Eagles shifted their emphasis to the middle and the change contributed to a 25-20, 25-22, 25-21 sweep in Thursday’s rematch with the Lancers for the ILH D-II girls volleyball championship.

Senior CJ Asuncion hammered 11 kills from the outside and middles Kanoelani Yadao and Natasha Travens combined for 17 as HBA captured its eighth ILH D-II title and its third in the past four years.

"It really means a lot," Asuncion said following her final match at HBA’s Dan Liu Gymnasium. "A lot of the girls, especially the middles, put a lot of work into it and I appreciate their hard work."

The ninth-ranked Eagles (12-1) also claimed the ILH’s seeded berth in next week’s HHSAA Division II state tournament.

"It’s a great accomplishment," HBA coach Myles Shioji said. "We have a bigger goal now with the state tournament. We want to make sure we go in there fresh, we go in there healthy and playing well."

Sacred Hearts (9-4) won the league’s second-round title and forced the rematch for the overall crown with a four-set victory on Tuesday. After Thursday’s loss, the Lancers quickly turned their attention to the program’s first state tournament appearance since 2006.

"This is a great turnaround for these girls," Sacred Hearts coach Derwin Tsutsui said. "We had an up-and-down regular season, but we came out strong at the end."

After losing on Tuesday, Shioji had HBA setters Jaryn Ramos and Krystal Oyasato feed the middle with greater frequency on Thursday.

The setters executed the plan and Yadao responded with 11 kills without committing a hitting error. When Yadao went to the back row, Travens was also effective at the net with four kills and two blocks.

The Eagles’ balance, in turn, helped open up Asuncion and Tiffany Thompson (five kills) outside.

"It made Sacred Hearts think a little bit more about where to go with the block," Shioji said. "We just, as a whole, had to execute better (after Tuesday’s loss)."