HILO — On a night when 'Iolani played its best match of the state tournament, Punahou played its worst and the result was a 25-18, 25-18 sweep for the Raiders in the semifinals of the New City Nissan/Hawai'i High School Athletic Association Girls Volleyball Championships.

'Iolani, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu runner-up, improved to 19-2 in regular and postseason play and will face two-time defending state champion Kamehameha (20-1) in tonight's title match at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

First serve is set for 7:30, and the match will be televised statewide on a same-night delayed basis by OC16.

Last night, a crowd of about 1,200 at the Civic watched the Raiders lead from start to finish in the first game, jumping to a 6-1 advantage and holding off several Punahou challenges. They never let the Buffanblu (17-4) get closer than three points.

After Punahou closed to 18-15 on a kill by Lani Fonua, a long rally ended with the Buffanblu being called for four hits.

'Iolani then ran off four more consecutive points to take a commanding 23-15 lead.

"I felt this was the first game (this week) that everyone did their job," said Raiders senior outside hitter Leinani Keanini, who finished with nine kills and nine digs. "The middles (Chelsea Hardin, Mahina Haina and Alissa Youart) came through, and (libero) Jana (Tokuhama) played great — it seemed like Punahou couldn't get a ball past her."

The Raiders again started quickly in the second game, taking an 11-4 lead after three straight Punahou errors. The Buffanblu never got closer than five thereafter.

Punahou coach Jim Iams said on-court communication problems disrupted his team's execution in both games.

"In the middle of the second game, we finally started playing the way we should and I commended the team during a timeout; then we came out and went back to the same thing again," Iams said. "There were various things that kept us from getting into a flow; we would stumble over ourselves and scramble to convert points. But 'Iolani played very well, take nothing away from them. They made very few errors and clearly they were the better team tonight."

Sophomore setter Malie Yoon operated a balanced 'Iolani attack with 22 assists and added five digs. Lauren Minkel contributed four kills and 10 digs, and Tokuhama finished with 16 digs.

"Our left sides had been doing a great job, but we wanted our setter to get the middles involved a little more," Raiders coach Jenic Tumaneng said. "In the locker room, we said we haven't really reached our peak yet and there still is a little more room for improvement. Hopefully, we can bring that to the championship match."

Anuhea Keanini, Leinani's sister, led the Buffanblu with eight kills and added seven digs. Punahou libero Sydney Yogi had a match-high 19 digs.

Read Wes Nakama's blog on prep sports at http://blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.