Keonilei Akana had 21 kills and older sister Braelyn Akana had three of her seven kills in the final set as No. 1 Kamehameha rallied for an epic 24-26, 25-21, 18-25, 25-19, 15-13 victory over No. 2 ‘Iolani on Thursday night at Father Bray Athletic Complex in the final of the ILH second-round, double-elimination tournament.
“I’m proud of the girls. ‘Iolani’s a really well-coached team and they brought their fire tonight,” Warriors coach Chris Blake said. “Our girls did an excellent job of containing their emotion and sustaining our efforts. It’s a great win for us in the end.”
Malie McClure added 15 kills, and middles Kalina Obrey (eight kills, three blocks) and Braelyn Akana (two blocks) combined for 15 kills. Setter Lexis Akeo dished out 49 assists with one ace and one kill for Kamehameha.
Elena Oglivie, who had 31 kills in 72 swings just 48 hours earlier against the Warriors, finished with 21 kills and an ace to lead ‘Iolani. Izzy Sakoda added 10 kills, freshman Mokihana Tufono tallied eight with two aces, and middle Sasha Petticord had seven kills and four blocks. Setter Kristen McDaniel had 47 assists, three kills and two aces.
The win earned Kamehameha (12-1) the outright league championship and an opening-round bye in the New City Nissan/HHSAA Girls Volleyball Division I State Championship, which begins on Monday.
A win by ‘Iolani (9-5) would have forced a winner-take-all match today for the ILH crown. For most of the evening, it seemed the Raiders were destined. Two days after upsetting Kamehameha at Kekuhaupio Gymnasium, the Raiders’ serve had the Warriors — ranked No. 6 nationally by USA Today — on their heels.
“We changed some slight things with positioning, but we did a lot of the same things we had success with (on Tuesday),” Raiders coach Kainoa Obrey said. “We served well again today. It gets tough against a team like Kamehameha. I’m proud of our kids. They’re resilient, especially not giving up in the final set down 13-10.”
‘Iolani had a chance to win game 4, and the match. They got within 19-18 after a left-handed tip by Petticord and a hitting error by the visitors. With no margin for error on a night of long rallies, the Raiders had a service error and a hitting error as Kamehameha closed the set with a 6-1 run to even the match.
The lead changed hands four times in the fifth set before Keonilei Akana tied it at 9 with a kill and Obrey’s block on Petticord gave the Warriors the lead. Two more kills by Keonilei Akana opened the margin to three points. After her right-side kill made it 13-10, the Raiders tied it with a kill by Oglivie and two hitting errors by McClure.
Obrey then came through with a kill and McClure ripped an ‘Iolani overpass at the net for the final point.
‘Iolani, ranked No. 8 by USA Today, looked like a team that is practically even with defending state champion Kamehameha. It wasn’t the case until this week, though. The teams met five times prior to Thursday. Kamehameha won the first four times, losing only two sets. Then came Tuesday’s tourney battle, won by ‘Iolani in five sets, 23-25, 14-25, 25-18, 25-21, 15-11.
