Christianne Abella said she entered the 2014 aio Hawaii State Spelling Bee to improve her vocabulary.

After a thrilling victory on Saturday, it’s unlikely the Konawaena Middle School eighth-grader will ever forget the word for the quality or state of sound being expressive and plaintive.

Abella sealed her victory over a field of 13 other students, grades 4 through 8, by correctly spelling “plangency.”

With the win, Abella secured an all-expenses-paid trip to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. The event will be held May 25-31.

Fourteen students competed to be Hawaii’s spelling bee champion.