'Iolani is the defending Division I girls volleyball state runner-up and Hawai'i Baptist is the defending DII state champion, but in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's first round, the classification labels literally come off.

HBA proved there's no distinction on the court last night, stunning the visiting Raiders 26-28, 25-19, 25-15 before an elated home crowd of about 300.

The Eagles, ranked No. 5 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll of coaches and media, improved to 4-0 in the ILH with their first victory over 'Iolani since 2004. The Raiders, ranked No. 3 by The Advertiser and No. 34 in Prepvolleyball.com's preseason national poll, fell to 5-1.

"It's not the same as winning the state championship, but it's right up there," said HBA junior outside hitter Sarah Palmer, who led the team with 12 kills and three aces. "It's one of the best matches we've played."

It also was nearly a sweep.

The Eagles led the first set, 17-10, before 'Iolani fought back to tie it at 18-18 on an ace by freshman Ashlee Asada. The teams stayed tight and each fought off set point before the Raiders finally won it on a kill by junior outside hitter Mahina Haina.

HBA responded quickly in set two, taking a 2-0 lead and never trailing. The Eagles broke away from a 2-2 tie to grab an 8-3 lead and never looked back. After an error closed the lead to 14-11, Palmer had back-to-back kills to push it to 16-11, and 'Iolani could not get closer than four points the rest of the way.

"In between games (1 and 2), we knew we needed to regroup," Palmer said. "We just had to focus and pick each other up."

The third set was tied at 5-5 but Hawai'i Baptist then surged to a 9-2 run behind a strong serve that included five aces, three by Kayla Kawamura.

"They're a good team, and they definitely did their homework," Raiders coach Jenic Tumaneng said. "They served us aggressive and played great defense."

After a timeout at 14-7, 'Iolani got a kill by middle blocker Chelsea Hardin. But the Raiders followed that with an error, and Chelsea Mow spiked two kills to push the lead to 17-9. Kills by Mow, Palmer and Taryn Bohan helped the Eagles pull away, and C'era Oliveira ended it with a hard spike down the left side that glanced off a back-row defender, setting off a jubilant celebration on the HBA side of the court.

"Everybody gets jacked up when we play the bigger schools," Eagles coach Myles Shioji said. "You can see that a little more goes into it."

But Palmer said her coaches try to emphasize that when two ILH teams take the court and the ball is served, it's not about Division I vs. Division II.

"We play them as we would any other team," Palmer said. "The name on the back doesn't matter."