On Monday night, the Kaimuki High School gym hosted a spirited volleyball game between two high school teams. The shouts from the gym carried into the evening air: “Hiki no, ‘Ehunui!” “Maikai!” “Makaala! Makaala!”

The entire game was played in Olelo Hawaii, the Hawaiian language. Every player, coach, official, ball girl, statistician and fan in the bleachers spoke Hawaiian.

It was the first time two public Hawaiian language immersion schools — Ke Kula ‘o ‘Ehunuikaimalino from South Kona and Anuenue from Honolulu — competed in a high school volleyball match. As the number of Hawaiian language speakers grows, these occasions when an everyday event is conducted completely in the first language of these islands are becoming more common, like the recent flights on Hawaiian Airlines where every crew member on board was a fluent speaker of Hawaiian. Yet each first is an opportunity to reflect and celebrate.

Kaha‘i Navas-Loa, the only senior on the ʻEhunui team, has been a student at the school since since papa malaao (kindergarten). “I felt proud because everyone was speaking Hawaiian and we are all choosing to have the Hawaiian language and customs live through us,” he said.

Keli‘ikanoe Mahi, principal at ‘Ehunui, accompanied the nine players on the boys’ volleyball team, the coaches, two managers and parents on the flight from Kona Monday morning. Mahi spent the entire game holding up her iPad to Facetime the action to the fans back home.

“This is a way to build pilina (relationships) between schools,” Mahi said. The teams and their chaperones were planning to have dinner together and a sleepover on the Anuenue campus after the match.

The bleachers on one side of the gym were set up for spectators and were full of family members, teachers and students who had made signs for their favorite players, all written in Hawaiian. All the cheers were in Hawaiian. Disputes of the line judges’ calls were settled in Hawaiian. Baba Yim, principal at Anuenue, sat in the stands and cheered for both teams.

“We look for ways to do things for immersion, so that Olelo Hawaii is not just a language that lives in their classroom, but one that lives everywhere,” Yim said. There have been OIA paddling events all in Hawaiian, and Yim looks forward to a time when the traditional Hawaiian sports of makahiki are held in league competitions between schools.

Though the event was friendly, the competition was fierce. “The ‘Ehunui team was saying that the airplane they flew in on was named ‘Io, which is their team name, so that was a sign they would win,” Yim said. “The Anuenue team said that there was a rainbow in the sky when the Kona team landed here, so that was a sign they would win. They were ribbing each other the whole time.”

The teams battled for every point, and through most of the match, were only a point or two apart on the scoreboard. Anuenue won the first three sets, but since the game had the feeling of history being made and a mission being fulfilled, they kept playing through five sets.

“For me, I don’t care who wins,” Mahi said. “I mean, I am wearing my school shirt, but all of us win just being here.”

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.