Rams advance to states

Radford advanced to the state Division II girls volleyball tournament with a 25-17, 26-24 win over McKinley on Wednesday night in the OIA D-II third-place game at the Mililani High gym.

Marisa Kealoha’s ace on aloha ball put the finishing touches on the victory for the Rams (5-7).

Kealoha finished with four aces and three kills, and teammate Noel Phillips put down five kills to lead the way.

"This is great for our seniors, who get to play in the states," Kealoha said. "We were a lot calmer today and didn’t have that anxiety we had (in a Tuesday loss to Kailua). I think if we can stay calm, we’ll do good in states."

In the first set, Radford went on a 7-2 run for a 12-7 lead. Megan Malepeai had two kills and Anika Anderson blasted a kill on a set from Malepeai, and Kealoha added an ace.

Malepeai split time running the Rams’ offense along with Punipuao Seei. Six different Radford players had at least three kills.

The Rams maintained that hefty first-set lead all the way to 23-17, and then two Tiger errors ended it.

"We’re excited that we’re headed to states," Rams coach Candice Fujiwara said. "We needed this game. We have a lot of preparation ahead of us, playing against those good teams from the ILH. I was happy to see we didn’t give up, coming off a loss last night."

Set 2 was tight throughout and the Tigers (3-11) grabbed a 19-17 lead on Victoria Koli’s kill off of a nicely placed set by Chasity Wong.

"I’m not disappointed," said Koli, who finished with a match-high nine kills. "We fought hard until the end. We had trouble with our communication and our passing and Radford had a lot of energy. They really wanted it."

Two kills by Radford’s Rachel Nance, an Anderson ace and a Kealoha kill put the Rams ahead at 21-19.

The Tigers fought to tie it at 24, but after a hitting error, Kealoha’s ace ended it.

"I think we just gave up too early," McKinley coach Carrie-Ann Charles said. "We didn’t play together as a team. Radford came to play. Getting within one game of the states was big for our team. Hopefully, it will be incentive for next year. McKinley hasn’t been to states in a long time (2008)."

Kalaheo will play Kailua in Friday’s OIA D-II final at 5:30 p.m. at McKinley. Moanalua plays Kapolei in the D-I final to follow.