The Sacred Hearts girls volleyball team got to the final table — the state Division II title match —and busted out its aces.

The Lancers served up eight aces and made clutch plays at the end of each game in a 25-21, 25-20 victory over top-seeded Word of Life last night in the final of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Girls Volleyball Division II State Championships.

It was the first state volleyball title for Sacred Hearts.

"We did a great job as far as the kids are concerned, working hard in the offseason and I think we were ready tonight," said Sacred Hearts coach Jonathon Tom.

Kylee Maneja and Haililani Pokipala each had seven kills for Sacred Hearts (17-6) in a battle of Interscholastic League of Honolulu rivals at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Sacred Hearts had six aces in the second game, including three in a row by setter Courtney Inouye that put the Lancers ahead 10-9.

"I was just trying to serve in the gaps and catch them off guard," she said.

The Lancers took a 16-12 lead in the game, but Word of Life caught them at 19-19.

Sacred Hearts ended the match on a 5-0 run — a kill by Maneja, two blocks and two Word of Life hitting errors.

"We really worked together to make this happen," said Sacred Hearts' Macy-Alexandra Mitravich.

Tom said serving was always a priority, but the team wasn't effective early in the season.

"One of the things we worked on all season long is make the kids more aggressive with their serves," he said. "After the midseason we started to serve tougher. It showed tonight. They weren't afraid."

Word of Life, the ILH champion, scrambled to run its offense and hit .000 for the match (17 kills, 17 errors in 70 attempts).

"We couldn't pass. Sacred Hearts served really tough," Word of Life coach LeeAnn Satele said.

Inouye had 16 assists, and Maneja, Pokipala and Kanani Pang each had six digs for Sacred Hearts, the ILH runner-up.

"I'm really proud of our girls, they put their hearts into it," Inouye said. "Even the girls on the bench were supporting us 100 percent."

Tiffany Phillips had five kills and one error in nine swings, and Breanne Geronimo had two aces for Sacred Hearts, which had five blocks.

In the first game, Sacred Hearts scored four in a row to take a 17-13 lead. Word of Life got within one on three occasions with the final time being at 22-21.

The Lancers scored the final three points on a hitting error, lift and another hitting error.

Tom said his team was well-prepared after having played Word of Life (16-6) for the fifth time last night. The Firebrands won three of the meetings.

"We knew where they were going to go to, our block was set up properly," he said. "We knew what we wanted to do on our side."

Chanteal Satele had eight kills and 10 digs for Word of Life, a team with only two seniors.

"The girls worked very hard," LeeAnn Satele said. "Some of them played beyond their years. Some of them still need a lot to grow. Something like this is different for our school. They go to a school that's emerging and this is the first step to getting there."

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.