They’re the team in sky blue with dreams of conquering the universe.

Mission accomplished. Led by junior setter Jesus Garcia, St. Francis rallied for a 15-25, 19-25, 25-18, 25-19, 15-12 victory over top-seeded Kapaa in the Division II title match of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Boys Volleyball State Championship on Saturday night at Blaisdell Arena.

It is the first boys volleyball state crown for No. 2 seed St. Francis (13-2), which looked a step slow after a long semifinal battle with Molokai less than 24 hours earlier. The Saints had 23 hitting errors in the first two sets on Saturday, but overcame the fatigue.

“That’s our team’s M.O. All year long we never gave up. We fought adversity, always picked each other up, stayed positive,” Saints coach Dandi Holder said. “They’re very nice kids. They’re awesome kids. That’s why this win tonight means so much, because these kids put in so much hard work. They deserve every bit of it.”

They did it with a fully balanced effort. Wembley Mailei had a team-high 17 kills and Mofuike Hafoka had 12, including a hustle play to put down the last of his kills for the match.

Boris Vukovic (four kills, two solo blocks) and Lanson Umufuke (three kills, two blocks) combined to contain the Warriors’ attack, which had been mostly unrestrained in the first two sets. Walter Berthold came up with 12 digs, while Hafoka had a team-high 16 digs.

Garcia was the glue. He finished with 35 assists, four aces and six kills.

“I’ve been playing this since seventh grade and I’ve been playing with our guys for a long time. To finally win a state championship, all the work paid off,” Garcia said. “I kept telling them, we’ve been here before. We’ve played a couple of five-set matches during the season and we’ve never given up. Tonight, it all clicked together. Last year, it was pretty close, but this year, we were going to take it no matter what it took.”

The final set was a test of nerves. Three hitting errors by Kapaa helped the Saints take a 9-6 lead. Garcia then gave his team a four-point lead with another lefty dump.

The Saints lost focus, allowing a pass to drop in the middle of the floor, and an ace brought the Warriors within 11-10. Kesomi Fonua’s kill tied it at 11.

Hafoka’s left-side kill gave the Saints the lead again, and he roofed Rusdan-Rocket Ahuna at the middle to give his team a two-point lead.

Justin Faidley’s roof cut the lead to 14-12, but Hafoka hustled to get the kill for the final touch on St. Francis’ state title in volleyball.

“I was tired, but I refused to give up,” Hafoka said. “They set the ball and overpassed it, and I said, ‘That’s my ball!’”

Faidley and Kiran Costa paced Kapaa (13-2) with eight kills apiece. Fonua, Robert Brown and Noah Rall added six each, while Ahuna dished 30 assists. Justin Paleka (19 digs) anchored the back row.

“Kapaa plays with each other and they’re very volleyball sound. Our game plan was about using our physicality against them,” Holder said.

Kapaa coach Kapule Kaona’s program was seeking its first D-II state title since 2005.