As Waipahu’s lead ballooned in each set, so did the concern in coach Julna Pasicarin.

Pasicarin worried her volleyball team would lose focus with a double-digit lead. Turns out, there was nothing to worry about, as Waipahu’s intensity never wavered.

Jeminae Solomua had 14 kills and Storm DeAsis added 10 to help Waipahu to a 20-25, 25-9, 25-17, 25-12 win over McKinley in Thursday’s quarterfinals of the OIA volleyball championship at Moanalua.

The Marauders (10-1) clinched a state berth with the win and advance to Tuesday’s semifinals to play Moanalua at Radford.

“Sometimes it makes me nervous when we get that big of a lead,” Pasicarin said. “The mental part always kicks in. Tonight they kept it, which is good. We got to keep them on their toes all the time.”

Waipahu controlled the rest of the match after dropping Set 1. The Marauders took big leads early in Sets 2, 3 and 4, forcing McKinley to play catch up.

Waipahu was outblocked 4-0 in Set 1 but finished the match with nine blocks to McKinley’s five. DeAsis had six of Waipahu’s blocks.

“They just didn’t have the energy and afterward we made some changes,” Pasicarin said.

Christian Ramoran had 35 assists for Waipahu and got all his hitters involved in the offense. Andrew Simanu added eight kills for Waipahu.

“He (Ramoran) makes it a lot easier because his location is always on point,” Solomua said.

The Marauders lost in last year’s OIA quarterfinals and needed to get out of the consolation round to make the state tournament. This year, Waipahu took a faster route to clinch a state berth.

“Last year we won in the first round but lost in the second round,” Solomua said. “This year we wanted to get an easier way into the state tournament. We have a chance at the championship.”

Joseph Abe had 16 kills for McKinley (8-5). Roger Chen had 27 assists for the Tigers, who can still clinch a state berth through the consolation round. The Tigers last qualified for the state tournament in 2013.

Abe had a kill and two aces to help McKinley cut the deficit to 19-16 in Set 3. DeAsis had a block and a kill to start a 4-0 run. DeAsis finished it off with the final two kills of Set 3.

Waipahu never trailed in Set 4 and McKinley called timeouts down 3-0 and 10-4. Ejay Tagabi’s ace — Waipahu’s sixth of the match — made it 19-7.

“It’s exciting,” Solomua said. “We don’t want our season to end short. I like our team this year.”

In the night quarterfinal match, second-ranked Moanalua swept Kapolei 25-13, 25-4, 25-14.

Host Moanalua (12-0) is chasing its sixth straight OIA title. It has won the last four under coach Alan Cabanting.

In other playoff matches, Kahuku beat Kalaheo 19-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-16 and Mililani swept Campbell 25-15, 25-18, 25-11.