It seemed much easier this time around for the Kamehameha girls volleyball team, which won its second straight Interscholastic League of Honolulu title last night.

Kamehameha defeated Punahou, 25-18, 25-21, last night at Kamehameha's Kekuhaupi'o Fieldhouse in the championship match of the ILH postseason tournament.

Kamehameha (17-1) was crowned the league's overall champion after also winning the first round. It receives the ILH's top berth in the state tournament.

Last season, Kamehameha had to play an extra match because 'Iolani won the first round and the Warriors took the postseason tournament.

"It's cool, we all like it," Warriors junior outside hitter Kanani Herring said. "Last year (it felt like) we had to play three extra matches. We're just happy we took care of business tonight."

'Iolani plays at Punahou next Wednesday to determine who receives the ILH's second state tournament berth. 'Iolani (13-3) and Punahou (14-3) tied for second in the first round, and Punahou finished second in the tournament, forcing the playoff.

"It's fun knowing you have a good game coming up," Punahou senior outside hitter Liz Ka'aihue said. "You can't simulate this kind of competition in practices."

Last night, the Warriors took a 13-8 lead in Game 1 aided by three straight Punahou hitting errors. Punahou got within 18-14 on a kill by Ka'aihue, but only managed four points the rest of the game.

"We talked about going out hard and getting a quick start," Kamehameha coach Chris Blake said. "Punahou is a great team, and we wanted to make sure that no matter what they brought, we were ready. Our girls did a great job of executing."

The Warriors' execution in Game 2 helped them to an 11-2 lead, with the help of three blocks and two Herring kills.

"Every time I looked at the score, I was shocked," Herring said. "Usually we have to work so hard for every point. It just seemed a lot easier tonight."

Punahou fought back behind Ka'aihue, whose fifth kill of Game 2 made it Kamehameha, 20-18.

"We were pushing to try to serve aggressively and have the outside hitters play aggressive," Ka'aihue said.

The Buffanblu continued to rally. After a Punahou error, a Kamehameha service error and lift call helped Punahou cut its deficit to 21-20.

But the Warriors scored four of the next five points on a kill by Bekah Torres, a dump shot by setter Kealohilani Kea and a back-row violation by Punahou. A kill by Herring ended it.

"We tend to do that," Herring said of making the match close in the closing points. "We're trying to work on that.

"We just wanted to end it quickly so we got a little tight. When we were only up by two, we looked around and were like, 'Relax.' "

Herring and outside hitter Jordan Meredith had six kills apiece and Torres added five.

"It's a great luxury to have," Blake said. "They can key on one player, but they can't stop the entire team."

Ka'aihue finished with 10 kills and Larissa Nordyke and Shawna-Lei Kuehu added six each.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.