Kamehameha climbed one spot to No. 7 in prepvolleyball.com's latest national girls rankings, released yesterday just about the same time the visiting Warriors powered past Punahou, 25-17, 25-17, before a crowd of about 400 at Hemmeter Fieldhouse.

Kamehameha, 39-2 overall and 15-1 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, advanced to tomorrow's ILH Round 2 Tournament final against No. 23 'Iolani (28-3-1, 16-0). First serve is set for 1 p.m. at the Warriors' Kekuhaupi'o Gymnasium.

'Iolani, ranked No. 1 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll of coaches and media, swept visiting Sacred Hearts, 25-7, 25-20, in last night's other semifinal.

'Iolani won the ILH's first round and automatic state tournament berth; if the Raiders win tomorrow, they will be the league's overall champion and will receive the ILH's top seed and first-round bye in the state tournament Oct. 31 to Nov. 3.

If Kamehameha (No. 2 in The Advertiser poll) wins, the two teams will play again Tuesday at 'Iolani in a winner-take-all match for the overall title.

'Iolani had won the teams' first meeting, 22-25, 25-21, 25-19, one month ago, but since then the Warriors have looked strong, taking third in the prestigious 32-team Durango (Las Vegas) Fall Classic.

"Right after that loss, we were busting our butts in practice," said Kamehameha senior outside hitter Kanani Herring, who finished with a match-high 13 kills last night. "We told ourselves we can't let that happen again."

The Warriors made their statement early last night, jumping to a 5-1 lead and never trailing in Game 1. The No. 3-ranked Buffanblu (13-3 ILH) rallied to tie it at 6-6 after Anuhea Keanini's ace, but Herring answered with a kill to give Kamehameha the lead for good.

An 8-1 run put the Warriors up, 22-14, and Jordan Meredith finished it off with a spike down the middle.

"We can stay with them when we stay in our own rhythm, but we gave away points in bunches," Punahou coach Jim Iams said. "We would let them get four or five points in a row without breaking much of a sweat."

The pattern continued in the second game, after the Buffanblu built a 9-5 lead. Kamehameha scored seven straight points capped by two kills by Bekah Torres on back sets by Tati Santiago.

"Jordan did a nice job serving on that run, where we went from being down four to being up by two," Warriors coach Chris Blake said. "That was a good rotation for us."

Punahou fought back and tied it at 16-16, but Kamehameha finished the match with an impressive 9-1 run highlighted by Meredith's three kills, two by Herring and one from Torres.

"They're a tough team to beat," Iams said.

Herring and Blake said the elite competition the Warriors faced at the Durango Classic helped the team raise its own level of play. Kamehameha won its pool against some name-brand schools and its only loss was in the semifinals to No. 5-ranked Assumption (Louisville, Ky.), which was ranked No. 1 in the preseason.

"The competition was awesome," said Herring, who was named to the All-Tournament team along with Torres. "It was fun to play teams of that high caliber. We felt if we could do that well up there, then we should be fine when we come back here. The key for us is to stick together. The trip did us good."

Keanini had nine kills to lead Punahou.

In the ILH Division II Round 2 Tournament last night, Word of Life held off University High, 25-22, 25-21, and Hawai'i Baptist swept Hanalani, 25-13, 25-20.

Word of Life will play at Hawai'i Baptist for the title at 6 p.m. tomorrow.

MILILANI LONE WEST TEAM IN OIA RED SEMIFINALS

Mililani defeated Kalani, 16-25, 25-13, 25-14, in O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red Conference quarterfinal action last night.

In other quarterfinals, Kahuku defeated Kapolei, 17-25, 25-15, 25-14, Moanalua swept Radford, 25-21, 25-18 and Roosevelt defeated Kailua, 25-4, 25-15.

In Tuesday's semifinals at McKinley, Kahuku will play Mililani at 6 p.m., followed by Moanalua vs. Roosevelt at 7:30.

In the White Conference semifinals last night, McKinley defeated Kalaheo, 25-20, 29-27, and Farrington defeated Castle, 25-15, 25-19. Farrington will play at McKinley for the title at 6 p.m. Thursday.

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

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.