At least it was over quickly.

Kahuku made short work of Kailua, 25-11, 25-11, 25-7 in the first round of double-elimination play in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red volleyball playoffs last night.

It took about an hour at Pearl City High as the No. 6 Red Raiders carved up the Surfriders repeatedly from the left and middle.

First-year Kahuku girls coach Kaniela Kalama will take the win — and the clinching of a state tournament berth — but knows his team must be sharper if the Red Raiders are to take the OIA Red title for the third straight year. East rivals Moanalua and Kaiser still lurk on the other side of the bracket.

And not to be overlooked is OIA Red West top seed Pearl City, which Kahuku (11-2) faces today in the second of two matches at McKinley.

"We were trying to stay disciplined and focused on our goal. We were a little off today," Kalama said. "I don’t know if it was the bus ride. … This is the third time we’re playing them this season. So we just kept telling them, ‘It’s hard to beat a team three times.’ So we just had to stay focused and play our game.

"We know every team is beatable, and we’re beatable, so we just try to play as high as we can."

Kahuku performed close enough to its lofty expectations against the Surfriders. Senior hitter Lizzie Blake led Kahuku with seven kills, while sophomore middle Pati Anae and senior hitter Rachel Fonua added six apiece. Seven Raiders had four or more kills.

Setter Teuila Nautu effectively spread the ball around for 31 assists as Kahuku was able to play everyone except an injured player.

"We just wanted to have good passing. Sometimes we don’t start off right with our passing," said Nautu, a senior. "We just want to focus on good passing and run our plays … make the game faster."

Too fast for Kailua (3-11), the sixth and final team to qualify for the tourney out of the OIA Red East. The Surfriders earned the right to play Kahuku by knocking off Kapolei in the first round.

Though the Surfriders were sent quickly to the losers’ bracket, coach Mani Taufa’asau’s team can still claim one of six OIA berths in the state tournament by upsetting Windward-side rival Castle at Radford today.

Senior hitter Anolani Ramos-McCorriston led Kailua with four kills.

In another match at Pearl City, the Chargers defeated Castle 25-19, 25-23, 25-22

The Chargers swept the Knights despite tight finishes in each of the three sets, and will face Kahuku today in the next round.

With Castle just two points away from evening the match at a set apiece, Pearl City (12-1) came back behind some resilient defense and its home crowd.

Chargers coach Stephanie Shigemasa let out a huge sigh of relief afterward.

"It was one of the critical moments that could go either way and the girls kept their composure in that second set," Shigemasa said. "We’re excited, Kahuku’s a really good team and at this point we just gotta go for it, go out there and have fun."

Kaya Chang had 14 kills and Keani Passi added 12 for Pearl City.