Lahainaluna's 25-15, 25-22, 25-22 win over King Kekaulike yesterday at the Lunas' gym tightened the distance between second- and fourth-place in the standings to 1 1/2 games between Baldwin (3-2), King Kekaulike (2-3) and the Lunas (2-4), who have won two of their last three after an 0-3 start.

The Lunas' won this battle with a strong advantage in the serving department — 23 aces to six — and a big comeback in Game 2.

Three-time defending MIL champion Kamehameha-Maui (5-0), ranked No. 10 in the Advertiser poll, appears to have a strong grip on first place in the 10-game regular season and the state berth that goes with it. Second place in the regular season is also important — to get seeding for the season-ending tournament and for a possible playoff for a state berth. If the regular-season and tournament champions are the same, that team is the MIL's top team to the state tournament. In that case, if the regular season and tournament runners-up are different, those two teams would play for the league's second spot to state.

Likewise, if a team grabs second in both the regular season and tournament behind the same champion in both, that second-place team would go to state.

Megan Medeiros, a senior middle, led the way for the Lunas with nine kills, nine aces and a block against Na Ali'i.

"It was a really important match because our team, we started off kind of shaky,'' Medeiros said to The Maui News. "Really throughout the season we have started off kind shaky, but we are starting to get better and I am starting to get more confident in our team.''

In the second game, Na Ali'i held leads of 14-8 and 21-16 before the Lunas roared back.

A Medeiros kill made it 21-17 and later a pair of aces in a row by Medeiros made it 22-22. Three more solid serves by Medeiros and a couple of errors by King Kekaulike spelled the end of Game 2.

Game 3 was close throughout — the Lunas held the biggest lead at 19-15 — before an ace by Lahainaluna's Annastaceya Arcangel and another error by King Kekaulike ended the match.

"Megan is a tough server, but we have a lot of tough servers,'' Lahainaluna coach Hano Ganer said. "All of the girls put their efforts into serving and we had some key runs with it tonight. That is where it counts, the points.''

Julynn Ii added four kills and five aces for the Lunas, while Tia Keanini had a match-high seven digs.

Na Ali'i was led by Kalia Yasak, who had six kills. Kekaulike coach Kaipo Thomas pointed to the errors and serve receive as things his team needs to work on.

"Either they served well or we passed horrible, one or the other,'' Thomas said. "But they did serve well and didn't miss that many serves and we got caught in a couple bad rotations.''

Thomas said that any team can emerge in the race for the MIL's second spot to the D-I state tournament, including fifth-place Maui High (0-5).

"The second spot is up for grabs, it could go any way,'' Thomas said. "Ultimately, we haven't played to our potential, but if we do we can make a run at that second position. On any given night, whoever shows up to play can come away with the victory.''

Thomas said that Medeiros and the rest of the Lunas did what they should have with the opportunities presented by his team.

"I was impressed with Megan, but I was more bummed at what we did,'' Thomas said. "She is good, but if we give them easy balls she does what she is supposed to do. Service aces, if we don't move our feet, she is going to get a lot more aces.''

Things don't get any easier for either team as the Lunas have Kamehameha Maui next on Monday and Kekaulike plays Division II Moloka'i (5-0) tomorrow. Moloka'i is receiving votes in the Advertiser poll.

"We have a long season and hopefully we are peaking at the right time,'' Thomas said. "It is all going to come down to the tournament.''