After two unsuccessful attempts this season, Iolani will get a third chance to spoil defending state champion Punahou's reign tonight in the finals of the HHSAA/NewCityNissan.com Boys Division I Volleyball State Championships.

Iolani defeated Kalaheo, 25-23, 25-23, in a semifinal last night at McKinley High's gym to set up an Interscholastic League of Honolulu showdown.

Top-seeded Punahou defeated Kahuku, 25-19, 25-18, in an earlier semifinal.

"It feels amazing," Iolani senior Kawika Shoji said. "From Day One, this was our goal. We put in a lot of work every day in the gym and in the weight room. I give credit to my teammates. Everyone pushed each other."

The teams will play tonight at 7 at the Stan Sheriff Center. The match will be televised live on Oceanic Cable 16.

"They've beaten us twice already this season," Iolani coach Mike Among said of Punahou. "We've seen them enough where we know what they're going to do. We just have to try to make enough plays to stop them."

Last night was the first time Iolani (17-2) played Kalaheo (15-2) this season. The athletic Mustangs, coached by former University of Hawai'i player Sivan Leoni, played with contagious enthusiasm. The determined Raiders countered with steely focus.

"I told our guys to play real steady," Among said. "I knew Sivan likes to get his guys real emotional ... We had to weather their runs, and play as steady as we could. We knew we were in for a dogfight."

Iolani trailed 8-5 in Game 1 but engineered a 6-0 run to take an 11-8 lead. During the surge, Iolani's Barry Kang had two kills and a block assist.

Following a kill by Kalaheo's Tyler Caswell, Iolani surged again with a 5-0 spurt — highlighted by Shoji's two kills — for a 16-9 lead. The Mustangs closed to 24-23 on a kill by Elias David, but Shoji sealed the game with a kill down the right sideline.

In Game 2, a kill by Iolani's Kang snapped a 17-all tie. The Raiders increased their lead to 23-21 on a kill by Brian Mitsunaga. On the play, Shoji leaped to save an overpass and executed a one-handed set to his fellow senior.

Kalaheo responded with two consecutive points capped by a kill by Chris Tumaneng to tie the score at 23.

However, Iolani finished the game with kills by 6-foot-6 Bradley Lawson and the match-winner by Shoji.

"We played hard, and we left everything out on the court," Kalaheo's Mana Guerreiro said. "It's just a disappointment that it wasn't enough."

Kang led the Raiders with nine kills. Guerreiro and David each had eight kills for the Mustangs.

BUFFANBLU TURN BACK RED RAIDERS, 25-19, 25-18

Defending state champion and top-seeded Punahou didn't have its best match, but still advanced to tonight's final with a 25-19, 25-18 victory over Kahuku.

"We definitely have to come out prepared and strong, not like we did tonight," Punahou junior outside hitter Spencer McLachlin said.

Teammate Riley McKibbin, a junior setter/outside hitter, agreed.

"We didn't have our best game tonight, with a lot of unforced errors," McKibbin said. "But our starting team is very cohesive — we've been playing together since we were 12."

Kahuku led 4-2 in Game 1, before Punahou ran off seven straight points, behind the serving of McKibbin.

"It was just our passing, really," said McLachlin, who led the team with nine kills, including five kills and a block in the first game. "As long as we get our passing down, it makes it so much easier for Riley to make a nice set.

"Our blocking was there. If we get both of them going, who knows what will happen."

The Red Raiders closed to 17-16 on a hitting error by Punahou, but the Buffanblu ended the game on an 8-3 run, led by two kills and a block by McKibbin.

"We sort of dried up when they made a run," Kahuku senior outside hitter Junior Ale said. "But (the Buffanblu) are really experienced players. (Kahuku senior outside hitter) Charles (Bell) tried to spark us, but we couldn't back him up."

Punahou started Game 2 with a 6-0 lead, but the Red Raiders closed to 9-8 on a booming solo block by Bell, tied it with a service ace by senior setter Michael Tanuvasa, and took a 10-9 lead on a Punahou hitting error.

"I don't know if that was a function of (Kahuku), being great individuals, or a different kind of offensive scheme," Punahou coach Peter Balding said. "At times it was very frustrating."

But the Buffanblu's senior middle hitter Matthew Brown served two consecutive aces for a 14-12 lead, and Punahou never trailed again.

"The resilience on our part was good," Balding said. "We stayed patient, we didn't get flustered."

Punahou hit .213, but forced Kahuku to a .111 hitting percentage. The Red Raiders were led by Bell, who had 10 of the team's 18 kills. Punahou had seven blocks to Kahuku's three.

Kahuku coach Howard Kaululaau said it was the little mental errors that hurt the team.

"They caused us to falter," he said. "We played with them until the end. Our boys were overly excited. We were treating this like our championship."

CONSOLATION

Castle def. Kamehameha-Maui: Castle of the O'ahu Interscholastic Association swept Kamehameha-Maui, 25-13, 25-18.

Kealii Bertlemann led the Knights with nine kills.

Erwin DeCoite had seven kills for the Warriors. Kamehameha's Keala Aulevala had a match-high seven digs and Nainoa Hopkins added four blocks.

Moloka'i def. Waiakea: Maui Interscholastic League champion and fourth-seeded Moloka'i survived a scare from Waiakea of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, 25-22, 25-23.

The Farmers' Justin Neuhart was 8 for 8 on kill attempts. Teammates Chas Keola Albino had six digs and Ives Rapanot seven blocks.

Andrew Reyes led the Warriors with seven kills.

Kamehameha-Hawai'i def. Pearl City: Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion and third-seeded Kamehameha-Hawai'i beat Pearl City of the O'ahu Interscholastic Association, 25-27, 25-18, 25-15.

Isaac DeGuzman led the Warriors with 15 kills and Jacob Naki added 10. Naki also had 10 digs.

Sheldon Lucius led the Chargers with eight kills and Gary Panui picked up 10 digs.

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com and Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.