Moanalua denied Kamehameha-Maui its deja vu last night, sweeping past the Warriors, 25-21, 25-19, 25-23, in the quarterfinals of the New City Nissan/Hawai'i High School Athletic Association Division I Girls Volleyball Championships.

Nä Menehune, the O'ahu interscholastic Association runners-up, improved to 17-3 in regular and postseason play and will face No. 1 seed and Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion Punahou (20-0) in tonight's semifinal at McKinley's Student Council Gym.

First serve is set for 7.

Last night at McKinley, Moanalua jumped to a 9-3 lead in the first set and sent a message it was ready this time for No. 4 seed and Maui Interscholastic League champ Kamehameha-Maui, which upset Nä Menehune in last year's quarterfinals.

Moanalua stretched the lead to 15-7, before the Warriors finally made a run to close it to 22-19. But three errors — two hitting and one serving — thwarted the chance to come all the way back.

"We're a young team, and being so young, we had a lot of ball-handling mistakes and trouble controlling the ball," said Kamehameha-Maui coach Bala Spencer. "We had a lot of mental, unforced errors."

The Warriors regrouped to take a 7-3 lead in the second set, but Nä Menehune came back with their own 7-3 run to tie it 10-10. Kamehameha-Maui went up again, 14-11, after Moanalua was called for a rotation violation, but Nä Menehune tied it again at 14-14 and Carsen Mata later served five straight points — including two aces — to build a 22-16 lead.

Gabby Matautia eventually ended it with a kill from the left side off a back row defender.

"Carsen saved us last night (in a first-round victory over Kamehameha-Hawai'i), too, when she served six straight points in that match," Moanalua coach Tommy Lake said. "We know that this is the state tournament, so you can't just send it over and let the other team run their offense. We're willing to take our chances and serve aggressive."

Spencer said his team suffered from its inability to serve-receive.

"Moanalua served tough," he said, "and we didn't respond."

The Warriors jumped to a 5-1 lead in the third set and stayed ahead until Nä Menehune tied it 17-17 after a lift call and error. It was still tied 21-21, when Tasha Meyer put Moanalua ahead for good with an emphatic kill down the middle.

Kamehameha-Maui (16-1) stayed close and trailed 24-23 after a Nä Menehune error, but Mata finished it off with a crosscourt kill from the right side that ricocheted out off a front-row defender.

Matautia led Moanalua with 12 kills and Mata added 10 kills and three aces.

Lake credited sophomore libero Katiana Ponce with her unsung role in allowing Nä Menehune to run their offense.

"She's been awesome holding down the (back) middle," Lake said. "It makes a big difference when she helps us get that one extra 'up,' that one extra swing."

PUNAHOU DEF. FARRINGTON, 25-14, 25-15, 25-14

Carina Thompson had 12 kills and five blocks and Tai Manu-Olevao added 10 kills as the Buffanblu swept the Governors in quarterfinal action at McKinley.

Punahou, the defending state runner-up, led 14-3 in the first set, used an 8-1 run to break away from a 7-7 tie in Set 2 and an 8-1 spurt to pull away from a 4-4 tie in the third.

Farrington got as close as 15-12 in Set 3, but a double-block by Thompson and Shannan McCready sparked a finishing 10-2 run.

The Buffanblu hit .374 for the match; the Govs' hitting percentage was .091 and they were out-blocked, 6-1.

Fenumiai Tofilau had 10 kills to lead Farrington, which finished third in the OIA and dropped to 12-7.

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