Pearl City’s senior night was a tough one as the Chargers survived three long sets to defeat Leilehua, 23-25, 25-20, 15-12.

Both teams got off to rocky starts in the first set as most of the points were earned from opponents’ errors. The two teams went back and forth when Pearl City finally was able to take off to a four-point lead at 14-10.

The momentum started to switch with a key double block from Leilehua’s Kristin Morante and Talea Alailima. That was followed by an ace by Aeshalani Palomares and a solo block from Taylor Gombia. Pearl City kept committing little errors before mounting a brief comeback. They were able to prevent three set points, but eventually came up short.

"With it being senior night, the adrenaline is pumping so much more than usual," Pearl City head coach Kory Toyozaki said. "They’ve got more friends and family here cheering them on. Our job (as coaches) is to keep them calm."

She did just that as she was able to adjust her team to take the second set. It wasn’t without a fight though. Leilehua kept it close as the game was tied six times. Pearl City’s biggest lead of the night was only five.

Leilehua (6-3) knew it was making simple mistakes too, but getting past those was something coach Larry Cantero had been preparing his girls for. He wanted to make sure that the team was prepared for close matches.

"We’d been working on our mental toughness," he said. "We have really improved with it. We gave them a fight. We made them earn this win."

Part of what seemed to be working for Pearl City (6-2) was that Toyozaki was able to utilize many of her players. She rotated among three setters, senior Courtney Mersberg, junior Tasha Inong and freshman McKayla Apo.

"We have a deep bench," she said.

She said it was good that they have a deep bench so more of them can play and she can see how they’re playing together to keep the game moving.

Pearl City was lead by Kaya Chong, who had 10 kills, one ace, three digs and was part of two big double blocks. Kara Aiwohi had four kills. Mersberg finished with 11 assists.

Leilehua’s Kaila Kilaulani led the Mules with five kills. Palomares had nine assists and libero Elizabeth Dumlao had a busy night with nine digs.