Word of Life junior outside hitter Chanteal Satele's birthday present to older brother Brashton came in the form of 20 kills and five blocks.

Top-seeded Word of Life defeated Waimea, 25-21, 17-25, 31-29 in the semifinals of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Girls Volleyball Division II State Championships at Punahou School last night.

"It's going out to my older brother," Satele said of Brashton, 19, a member of the University of Hawai'i football team who was among the estimated 1,000 fans at the match.

Word of Life (16-5), the Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion advanced to tonight's title game against ILH rival Sacred Hearts at 6 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center. Waimea, the Kaua'i Interscholastic Federation champ, dropped to 10-1.

All night long, the Firebrands would gain leads of three or four points, only to find the Menehunes back in the game.

"It can be nervewracking, but I had faith in them," Firebrands coach LeeAnn Satele said.

Game 1 was tied seven times before Word of Life separated itself with a 21-16 lead on a kill by Crystal Powell. Waimea climbed back to make it 22-21, but the Firebrands closed out the game with two Waimea errors and a Satele kill.

The next game started out like Game 1, with the score tied at 14, until the Menehunes took the lead on a double block by Nue Wong and Brytney Lanning-Yadao. That point would spark a 12-3 run to give Waimea the game and tie the match at one apiece.

In Game 3, Word of Life trailed 15-12, but rallied for a 23-20 lead.

Two kills apiece by Tialei Agader and Wong gave Waimea a 24-23 lead. Word of Life held off five match points by Waimea before taking the lead for good on a Menehunes hitting error and winning it all on a kill by Phoibe Fetu.

Powell had 17 kills. Wong had 12 kills and Chaslee Delanoza added 11 for the Menehunes.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.