The ‘Iolani Raiders circled, danced and sang “Happy Birthday” around their birthday girl, Taimane Ainu‘u, moments after sweeping Kamehameha
25-21, 25-15, 25-18 for the ILH girls volleyball championship on Tuesday night.
“What do I want for my birthday? I want to win states,” said Ainu‘u, who turned 17.
Ainu‘u, their junior setter, was dominant with her serve without notching a single ace. She often kept Kamehameha’s potent attack off-stride and finished with 28 assists, two blocks and six digs, continually fed by a selfless back row led by Mary Kate Kawakami and Kailee Soma. Kawakami had a team-high 11 digs.
Georgie Lee led ‘Iolani (25-3 overall) with 15 kills and three aces, adding one block and seven digs. Poema Kalama-Kingma tallied 11 kills, one ace, one block, and six digs, and Kawakami added three of ‘Iolani’s nine aces.
“This goal is met, but we always have a bigger goal of winning states,” Lee said. “We really emphasize we’re always playing our best, working on the small things. Everyone’s doing a good job coming together and just putting every small detail into doing good.”
The ILH title is the third in a row for ‘Iolani.
“We work a lot on the defense. Late in the season, defense will create the difference in these matches,” ‘Iolani coach Kainoa Obrey said. “I’m super proud of the kids. They owned their responsibilities. They stayed super disciplined and they played with a lot of fire and confidence. Defense is an attitude and shows the other team you’re going to have to earn points against us, and Kamehameha shows that, too. The energy plays, the so-called small things, we think everything matters. We want to win every point.”
For No. 1-ranked ‘Iolani, the teacher has been the pain of losing to Kamehameha. Whether it was a stunning four-set loss to Kamehameha in the 2024 state final, or 11 days ago in a regular-season matchup, nothing has triggered the Raiders quite like this particular teacher.
Kamehameha needed a win to seal the round-two double-elimination tournament title, which would have set up a rematch with ‘Iolani in a league championship battle today.
Instead, the Raiders continued their lethal destruction of all opponents since that five-set loss to the Warriors on Oct. 10. With
Kalama-Kingma back from her official visit to Oregon, ‘Iolani swept Punahou last Thursday, then swept Kamehameha on Saturday. Tuesday may have been a new peak for ‘Iolani against a Kamehameha defense that picks up serves better than nearly every team in Hawaii.
“Our defense has gotten a lot better. Kamehameha’s known for picking up the ball. We’ve gotten more disciplined on defense,” Ainu‘u said.
Kalama-Kingma said last week, after returning from Oregon, that a loss wouldn’t stop her team’s momentum. That they would win the ILH title again.
“We’re going to win states. That’s our next step, our main goal from now. Playing disciplined in the next two matches and get to that state championship,” she said. “This year, we’re a little bit younger and yet we have more seniors on the court. We want to do it better than last year,” Kalama-Kingma said.
Freshman middle Lilly Chan led Kamehameha
(24-14) with eight kills and two blocks. Senior middle Kealoha Lyons tallied seven kills and one roff, while Sauimoana Purcell finished with five kills, one ace and one block. The sophomore outside hitter had a ton of hammer shots that were simply dug off the ground or controlled cleanly despite the velocity. She had just four hitting errors but closed the match hitting .038.
Tiahna Aldeguer dished 13 assists and Alayah Wilson dished 10 assists with two aces.
“We’re proud of how our girls fought. ‘Iolani put us in a lot of bad spots. We were trading and doing well in set three, especially, and ‘Iolani was able to make a few plays at the end and run away with it,” Kamehameha coach Chris Blake said. “We have to be a little bit more resilient and battle. Fight and earn our points. A team like ‘Iolani is never going to give us any freebies. We have to find a way to be more creative and score more points when it matters the most.”
Defending state champion ‘Iolani will likely be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming New City Nissan/HHSAA State Championships. With a first-round bye, the Raiders will begin play on Oct. 28 in the quarterfinals.
Kamehameha will begin play in the first round on Monday.
The first round will be played at individual school sites. The quarterfinal round will be at Kamehameha’s Kekuhaupio Gymnasium and Punahou’s Hemmeter Fieldhouse. The semifinals are set for Kekuhaupio, followed by the championship match at Stan Sheriff Center on Oct. 30.
Seedings and pairings will be released by the HHSAA with the conclusion of the OIA championships tonight.
