WAILUKU — The best boys volleyball teams in Hawai'i will be on Maui for the Division I state tournament May 14-17.

The best two teams from Maui will be on O'ahu at the same time for the Division II state championships.

Seabury Hall and Hana — with less than 350 students combined — put on a show for a packed house at the Baldwin gym last night in the Maui Interscholastic League Division II tournament final.

With a thrilling 23-25, 25-21, 15-10 win, the Spartans returned to the top of the MIL for the first time in four years and completed a 10-0 season in the process.

Hana finished 8-2, with both losses to Seabury Hall, and the Dragons saw their string of three straight MIL titles end.

Both teams played last like they could be factors on O'ahu.

''Hana is a great team,'' Seabury Hall senior Erik Snow said to The Maui News after he finished with a match-high 16 kills. ''It seems like we have been losing to them for my whole career. It is always a great battle with them, but tonight we came out on top.''

The Spartans' roster lists six players at 6 feet tall or more, topped by the 6-4 Snow. Hana has eight players on its entire roster and only one is taller than 5-11 — junior Holden Gorbea, at 6-1.

Gorbea did his best to match Snow, finishing with a team-high 10 kills to go along with two blocks, but it wasn't enough for the Dragons.

When asked how long it had been since his team's last MIL title, Seabury Hall coach Caleb Palmer had a simple answer.

''Too long — four years,'' he said. ''Hana is unbelievable. They have a great coach, a great program, and great players who believe in everything they are doing.''

Snow, who will play soccer in the fall at San Jose State, said that the match was exactly what he expected.

''This kind of match, where you have to grind out every point, will have us ready for state,'' he said. ''Hana was in the (D-II state) final last year, so we should be right in there with anybody.''

Palmer agreed.

''I think we are beginning to show the rest of the state that Maui can play volleyball,'' Palmer said. ''We'd certainly like to think we will be in the mix at state.''

The Spartans depend heavily on Snow on the front line. Last night, he had 11 more kills than any of his teammates.

''Erik is unbelievable,'' Palmer said. ''He's the heart and soul of our team, he shows great leadership, and when we need a play, he makes it.''

After giving up an 11-4 lead and dropping the first game, the Spartans turned to Snow to ring up another large advantage in the second game at 13-6.

This time Seabury Hall didn't surrender it, despite another run by the Dragons. A dink by Hana's Pule Krause made the score 20-17, but Snow had three kills down the stretch to close out the game.

The Spartans bolted out to a 5-0 lead in the final game, prompting a timeout from Hana coach Manuel Oliveira. Once again, the Dragons closed the gap, getting within 8-6 on a kill by Kapena Kaiwi.

Then, with Snow blanketed by the Hana defense, Seabury Hall's Josh Chapple, a 6-2 sophomore, went to work. Chapple had three kills and a block of Kaiwi on consecutive points to put the Spartans in command at 12-6. When Kaiwi blocked Snow, the Dragons closed to 13-9, but they were then called for an illegal substitution on the next play to give the Spartans match point.

Krause extended the match with a kill, but Snow ended it with a resounding kill on the next point.

''Snow is a very good player, but we just made too many mistakes,'' Oliveira said. ''Serves into the net, hits out of bounds, all kinds of stuff. You can't win that way, but Seabury had a lot to do with all that. They are a great team.''

WARRIORS WIN

The Kamehameha-Maui boys volleyball team may have looked a little rusty in the semifinals of the Maui Interscholastic League Division I tournament, but left little room for doubt with yesterday's commanding 25-10, 25-15 victory over Lahaina-luna in the championship match at the Baldwin gym.

''We finally brought everything together and worked together as a team and not being selfish,'' said Warriors outside hitter Kamuela Kalehuawehe-Valentine, who had nine kills and three aces. ''We cut down on errors, which is the biggest problem we have, and we pretty much played solid throughout the whole game.

''I'm proud of everybody and how we played.''

Kekoa Mountcastle recorded eight kills and three blocks for the Warriors (7-3), who claimed the overall league championship, while Erwin DeCoite also had eight kills.

The Lunas (5-5), who also finished second in Division I in the regular season, will join the Warriors in the state tournament.

''We ran everything we had … these guys deserved it, it shows that they deserved to win,'' said Kamehameha coach Robert Brede. ''How they played was awesome and I'm really proud of them.''

Kalehuawehe-Valentine said the Warriors had incentive beyond the chance to secure the title.

''This game was for the MIL championship and last year we played Lahaina for the MIL championship and we lost, so I guess that gave us motivation,'' he said. ''Especially for the seniors, because it's our last MIL tournament … I guess that pushed us to play our best.''

Kamehameha setter Kalae Camarillo returned from an injury and had 11 assists and an ace. The Warriors' other setter, Chris Lawrence, had 13 assists and an ace.

''(Camarillo) was injured and he came back today, and I guess today we were all feeling a great chemistry and we had great connections, great passing, great setting, hitting, blocking … all the aspects of fundamental volleyball,'' DeCoite said. ''Today he felt good and he wanted to play because it was the last game and he did really well for an injured player, he helped us.''

Said Brede: ''He stepped up and there was a big difference. They all played as a team and they won as a team. Even the injured ones, they all contributed to this win and to this championship and hats off to my team. They overcame and pulled through.''

The Warriors scored the first seven points of the match, and went in front 15-5 on Kalehuawehe-Valentine's three consecutive aces.

''The first game, they really came to play — we went out 7-0 until an error made it 7-1, so it was just all uphill from there and they really came out to play,'' Brede said.

The second game was more of the same, although the Lunas did get some help from a few players who were not available at the start of the match because they were competing at Yamamoto Track & Field Facility in the MIL championship trials.

The D-I state tournament will be played at King Kekaulike and Kamehameha-Maui.

''This is one of the first years we have our own home crowd and it's always great to have them cheering us on, have their support,'' DeCoite said.

Kalehuawehe-Valentine is simply looking forward to facing the state's best.

''I'm expecting the competition to be high and that's good,'' he said. ''I look forward to it because I like the challenge. O'ahu teams and teams from the Big Island are tough and I look forward to playing them.''

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