The game was played before a noisy crowd of about 700 at the Warriors' Kekuhaupi'o Fieldhouse.

The victory earns Iolani (14-2) a first-round bye in next week's state tournament, which begins Tuesday, and most likely the tourney's No. 1 seed. Also, it earns the Raiders a long-awaited banner to hang in a gym filled with ILH championship memorabilia from other sports.

"The problem before was we played not to lose, but tonight we played to win," said Iolani setter/outside hitter Sean Carney. "It was the mental part, and tonight we clicked and had the right chemistry."

The Raiders had won the ILH's first round, cruised to a 13-0 record and were up two games to zero on Punahou on Oct. 29. But suddenly, Punahou won three straight games to take the match and then Kamehameha (14-2) swept Iolani on Tuesday to force last night's winner-take-all rematch for the overall title.

The Warriors won the first game, which had a 27-point cap, and went up two games to one. Kamehameha then went up 7-2 in the fourth game, but the Raiders caught the Warriors at 10-10 and went on to lead 22-16 before winning it on Todd Blankenship's kill.

"I'm glad that after losing the first game, (the Raiders) stuck with it and overcame adversity," Iolani coach Luis Ramirez said. "It was just a matter of believing in themselves."

With the match tied at two games apiece, the teams traded the first 16 points of the fifth game. But that's when Kamehameha outside hitter Adam Tuifagu went down with cramps in his right calf.

"He's our main guy," Warriors coach Pono Maa said. "When he went down, we were hanging in there a little bit but we couldn't make the turn."

Tuifagu returned with the Raiders leading 10-9, but he clearly was hampered by the injury and Iolani scored the final five points of the match.

"By that time, I think they had the momentum," Tuifagu said of his return.

Maa said Kamehameha's opportunity to win came long before Tuifagu's injury.

"We let them off the hook earlier," Maa said. "We had our chances to close the door, but we didn't do it. A lot of it was just attention to detail."

Tuifagu finished with a match-high 21 kills.

Blankenship led Iolani with 17 kills and four blocks. Carney, who split time between setting and hitting, added 14 kills, including three in a row to give the Raiders an 18-13 lead in the fourth game. Carney also had two blocks and an ace. Kyle Pape contributed 10 kills.

For the Raiders, it was a sharp contrast from Tuesday, when Kamehameha won handily, and Oct. 29, when Punahou took three straight from Iolani.

Ramirez said there was some good that came out of those two losses.

"I think it showed us that we can't just expect the other team to crumble," he said. "We have to work hard for everything we get."

That especially goes for an ILH championship, even if it takes 24 years.