By Paul Honda

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Taimane Ainu‘u crushed 17 kills and Poema Kalama-Kingma drilled 16 as No. 1 ‘Iolani fended off No. 4 Kamehameha 25-15, 25-23, 25-22 on Tuesday night at Father Bray Athletic Complex.

Ainu‘u hit .385, adding six digs and four assists for the Raiders (13-3, 6-0 ILH). Kalama-Kingma hit .273 and hustled for eight digs.

“I believe we’ll get better by focusing on the little details. Those are really important, just being able to be very consistent every time,” Ainu‘u said. “It feels pretty awesome. The last time we played them, we had a reverse sweep. Being able to sweep them feels really good and shows we take a lot of time at practice to focus on details.”

Though it was a sweep, the Raiders never had a moment to rest, as Kamehameha kept rallying.

“They’re a good team. They’re coached up. At the end of the day we want to stay calm and stick to it. We talked a lot about staying engaged the entire time. When we did make our runs, we were engaged on every rally,” ‘Iolani coach Kainoa Obrey said. “At times, some passes got squirrelly for us and Kamehameha got back in it a little bit. I’m proud of the kids on how they stood strong in those adverse moments.”

Georgie Lee added seven kills and a team-high 17 digs to the multi-faceted ‘Iolani attack. Senior setter Bailey Nakanelua had 33 assists, eight digs and two timely kills while conducting a masterful performance. Classmate Maddix Taniguchi tallied 12 digs and four assists.

“It’s all about breathing, taking a deep breath and staying in the moment. I think we know that we can do hard things. There’s going to be times when we struggle, but we’re always going to be there for each other,” said Nakanelua, a commit to Ohio State. “We just have a drive to win this year. We bring it to practice every day and it shows.”

Kalaweloilehua Chock and Ayva-Ray Malepeai led Kamehameha (19-5, 3-3) with seven kills apiece. Kalamaku Crabbe and Emilynn Won added five kills each. Faith Iokia dished a team-high 19 assists with eight digs. Ashli Lum led the Warriors with 10 digs.

“We’re working on some things. ‘Iolani played exceptional today. We were down a whole bunch. We fought back in sets one, two and three. It’s a great opportunity for us to continue to learn, but ‘Iolani deserved the win tonight,” Kamehameha coach Chris Blake said. “There’s certain execution in the discipline of our defense in what we have to do. We know what ‘Iolani’s going to do and they keep changing things up. Finding ways to execute when it matters the most is a big key. I’m proud of the kids.”

Both teams will travel to the Durango Fall Classic this week. The Warriors depart on Wednesday.

For much of the night, Kamehameha played well enough to beat most opponents. The Warriors and Raiders exchanged the lead three times early in the second match. ‘Iolani opened its biggest lead at 14-9, but the visitors got within 19-18 and finally tied it at 22 on a kill by Chock.

The home team closed the set out with a big block by Elle Arceneaux and kills by Lee and Ainu‘u.

The third set had the feel of a runaway as the Raiders opened a 10-2 lead thanks in part to two unforced hitting errors and a service error by Kamehameha. They regrouped and went on a 6-0 run behind two aces by Shaye Teves and three aces from Won.

After Kamehameha got within 12-11, ‘Iolani regained momentum behind strong back row play and had an 18-13 lead after an ace by Nakanelua and a kill by Lee.

Kamehameha made one final run, tying the game at 20 on a kill by Won.

‘Iolani closed out the match with a 5-0 run. Ainu‘u had a kill on a feed from Taniguchi to cap a wild rally, then aimed an ace off Won for a two-point lead.

Nakanelua then roofed Chock, and Kalama-Kingma had back-to-back kills to end the contest.

Now, it’s off to the ninth island, Las Vegas.

“We knew how good we work together as a team. It takes a lot of maturity,” said Kalama-Kingma, who is a commit to Oregon for beach volleyball. “We’re in it this year to win.”

Lee is committed to USC beach volleyball and Taniguchi is a commit to Temple.

The early start time of the match, 5 p.m., gives both teams more time to study and pack for the trip.

“It’s over 100 degrees this week,” Kalama-Kingma said of Las Vegas.