Natalie Piper and Kassidy Naone combined for 15 kills as Le Jardin upset No. 9 Hawaii Baptist 25-23, 25-23 on Tuesday night at Charles B. Wang Gymnasium.

The Bulldogs improved to 4-1 in Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II girls volleyball play, tying previously unbeaten HBA. It was the first win ever by Le Jardin over HBA in girls volleyball, setting off a robust post-match celebration with schoolmates. It was quite a turnaround for LJA, which lost at Damien last week.

“This time, we had a crowd, and that helped a lot,” said senior setter Nina Krupa, who has played volleyball at LJA since seventh grade. “I’m sure our crowd got into their heads like the crowd at Damien got into our heads.”

Second-year head coach Lee Lamb was delighted with the turnout at LJA’s home gym.

“Home crowd was amazing tonight. Usually we have a dozen or maybe two dozen people,” he said. “They were stomping and hollering, that just gives us some good energy.”

Lamb called the loss to Damien “an eye opener.”

“(Monday’s) practice was not good, it wasn’t clean at all. I was a little worried coming into this game, but in warmups, I felt good,” Lamb said.

Defending D-II state champion HBA dropped to 4-1.

“That’s on me. I didn’t get the girls ready as a coach,” Eagles coach Myles Shioji said. “Le Jardin is a good team. They passed a lot better than what we’d seen. They came up big down the stretch.”

Piper had eight kills and Naone had five of her seven kills in the second set. Krupa dished 19 assists and had two kills. With LJA ahead 24-23 in the second game, she delivered a flat-footed ace to the front row to end the match. Krupa gave credit to the raucous home crowd. The boys swim team arrived straight from practice before the second set.

“We knew they were coming. It wasn’t a surprise. They definitely helped,” Krupa said. “It’s a support system, but also the noise for the opponent playing in our gym. It’s a mind game.”

Julia Fisher added four kills and Arianna Lunow-Luke chipped in with two for LJA. Krupa finished with two aces, and Piper and Ka‘imionalani Cobb-Adams tallied one ace apiece.

Kallie Langford, Brienna Nishimura and Keri Lum had seven kills each to lead HBA. Ally Wada dished 21 assists and had two kills. Naiya Fujikawa had two of her team’s four aces.

HBA trailed for most of the opening set. The home team jumped to a 9-3 lead behind kills from Piper, Lunow-Luke and Krupa. The visitors pulled within 19-17 after a kill by Wada, and later got within 22-21 after a kill by Lum.

Piper’s fourth kill of the match ended the first set.

That’s when the swimmers arrived, clad only in their in-pool attire — Speedos — to cheer on their team. It seemed to be a jinx at first. HBA seized a 5-0 lead to start the second game, but LJA answered with an 8-0 run. From there, the game was tied two more times before the visiting Eagles jumped ahead, 22-21, on an ace by Nishimura.

Lamb called timeout to calm the nerves of his young team. His back row regained composure, and though HBA got a block by Wada for a 23-21 lead, the Bulldogs turned the set around.

“I tried to tell everyone, “It’s OK. Calm down. It’s not over. I have butterflies inside, but I try not to show I’m scared’,” Krupa said.

A service error and hitting error by HBA allowed LJA to tie the game, and after Naone crushed a kill from the back row, the Bulldogs had a 24-23 lead. After a timeout by Shioji, Krupa’s ace ended the night.

LPA hit .203 for the match. HBA hit 173.