The way these two teams went at each other all season, it was no surprise that Kamehameha and ‘Iolani went five sets at the Blaisdell Arena on Saturday night.

The bigger jolt to the 1,862 in attendance was the winner. The Warriors, runners-up to the Raiders in the regular season, pulled out a 27-25, 25-20, 12-25, 19-25, 15-12 victory in the Division I final of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Girls Volleyball State Championships.

"We work on our end game, trying to always end strong — ending our practices strong, ending our season strong, ending our matches strong, and it worked for us in Set 5," Kamehameha coach Chris Blake said. "It was a great team win. As coaches, we were amazed that the players took it upon themselves — led by Brooke Ka’awa, one of our captains — in between the fourth and fifth set to talk about exactly what they felt they needed to do."

It was the Warriors’ 20th state championship since the tournament began in 1969. Blake has been a coach for eight of those and this one was the first since 2013.

"We wanted to minimize our errors," Ka’awa said. "We talked about playing with heart and playing for each other and playing for what’s written across our chests — Kamehameha. We wanted to win it not only for ourselves, but also for Coach Chris, the seniors, the coaches and all of our supporters. We didn’t play well in the third and fourth sets and so we wanted to wash that away."

Lauren Condon made a huge difference in the deciding set for the Warriors (17-6). She had limited duty in the first four sets before coming through with five kills in the fifth, including three in a row that gave Kamehameha a 13-12 edge.

The next point was a tough one for the Raiders. Setter Bailey Choy was called for a net violation, making it 14-12. Then, a Condon kill was the final blow. ‘Iolani coach Kainoa Obrey argued the net violation call.

"We’ve asked Lauren to step up in many different ways for us this year," Blake said. "She had some really big swings for us at the end of the match."

The Warriors (17-6), who lost four out of five tough matches against the Raiders in the regular season, fought back from a 16-10 deficit in the first set. They took the second set as well, getting home fairly easily after a 14-14 tie. ‘Iolani came out smoking in the third set and never trailed. In the fourth, the Raiders played with immense defensive resilience and Kamehameha made six hitting errors late to bring it to the decider.

For Obrey and the Raiders players, the loss was a hard pill to swallow.

"The net violati0n was a tough call," he said. "The officials may have seen it differently (than me). They don’t usually change calls and they did call a very good game. We’re obviously crushed. It was a great experience for our kids and we’ll be better for it."

Added Raiders outside hitter Sierra Buscher: "We came back from a two-set deficit and a few points didn’t go our way at the end. I feel we let the ‘Iolani community down. They (the Warriors) played great. We played great."

Kayla Afoa led the way for Kamehameha with 11 kills and 24 digs. Kili Robins and Shiloh Peleras had 10 kills each. Lexis Akeo had 42 assists and 22 digs.

Sage Kaahaaina-Torres powered ‘Iolani with 16 kills. Buscher put down 15 kills, Moea Kekauoha added 13 kills and 23 digs, and Choy had 44 assists.