Spurred on by its boisterous "Red Raider Nation" legion of fans and a breakout performance by sophomore Leilani Tafuna, Kahuku won its fourth O'ahu Interscholastic Association girls volleyball championship in five years last night by sweeping Roosevelt, 25-19, 25-20.

The Red Raiders (14-1) will receive one of the top four seeds and a first-round bye in next week's Division I state tournament. Roosevelt (12-3) will begin first-round action on Monday.

The Rough Riders won an inspiring semifinal last week against Kalani, coming back from a 23-20 deficit in game 2 and winning the third game 29-27. But Kahuku would give them no such opportunity last night, jumping to an 11-4 lead in the first game and starting game 2 with a 9-1 run.

The only lead Roosevelt had in either game was 1-0.

"Before the match, we said, 'Let's get off to a quick start and keep their momentum down,' " Red Raiders coach Mona Ah-Hoy said. "We had good practices this week and tonight they played like how they practiced. Finally."

Kahuku got extra production from Tafuna, an unlikely source. The Red Raiders had relied heavily on the hitting of seniors Camilla Ah-Hoy, Ane Vea and Lily Latu this season, but last night it was Tafuna who finished with a team-high eight kills in addition to two blocks and an ace.

"I was pumped up tonight," said Tafuna, a 5-foot-11 outside hitter. "Before, I wasn't as confident. But tonight my teammates told me I had to do it, so I did it."

In one stretch of Kahuku's 9-1 run to start the second game, Tafuna had four kills in five points.

"She had a really good week in practice, so I told 'Milla to push the outside set to her and let her bang it down the line," Mona Ah-Hoy said. "We had to challenge their smaller blockers."

Camilla Ah-Hoy, a first-team Advertiser All-State selection in 2004, was more than happy to oblige.

"(Tafuna) was doing good in practice, so I had confidence in her," Camilla Ah-Hoy said. "She really stepped it up as an underclassman."

With Ah-Hoy (four kills, three blocks), Vea (five kills, two blocks, one ace) and Latu (five kills) having their normal solid games, it proved to be too much for the Rough Riders.

Roosevelt closed to 15-14 in the first game, but the Red Raiders responded with a 4-0 run. And when the Rough Riders fought back to 23-20 in the second game, Kahuku finished them off with a kill by Vea and a Roosevelt error.

"Kahuku definitely is a great team and they wanted it tonight," Rough Riders coach Bryan Camello said. "They're too big and physical to let them have that big of a lead. They have so many weapons, they're hard to defend and you know somebody is going to have a big game."

The Red Raiders also had their loud, loyal and red-clad fans behind them rocking the crowd of about 900 at McKinley's Student Council Gym. That, plus contributions from reserves like sophomore back row specialist Nina Blake, made Kahuku nearly unstoppable.

"Everybody stepped it up," Mona Ah-Hoy said. "It was a good team win, a good start going into states."

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.