The Hawai'i Baptist girls volleyball team ran its version of the spread offense last night in a sweep of Hilo.

As in spread around the sets and let its hitters rip.

Brianna Lovett had 12 kills, C'era Oliveira added 11 and Sarah Palmer had 10 as Hawai'i Baptist beat Hilo 25-15, 25-19, 25-19 in the semifinals of the New City Nissan State Division II Championships at Farrington.

Hawai'i Baptist, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion and No. 1 seed, will play for its third consecutive state Division II title today at 5 p.m. against Word of Life at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"I'm extremely proud. We worked extremely hard to get back here," said Hawai'i Baptist coach Myles Shioji. "We took it one match at a time the whole season, and the girls worked hard. It's really an honor to go back and play for the title again."

Word of Life, the ILH runner-up, defeated Moloka'i 25-22, 26-24, 25-21 in last night's other semifinal at Kalani.

Hawai'i Baptist beat Word of Life in five sets in last year's state final. In 2007, Hawai'i Baptist defeated Seabury Hall for the title.

"A lot of pressure was on us because of the third title and we have a target on our back," Lovett said. "But basically our coach told us to execute on each play."

Hawai'i Baptist's ability to use all its hitters against Hilo started with accurate passing and Kayla Kawamura's precise sets. She finished with 34 assists.

"Kayla's done a great job throughout the whole season trying to move the ball around," Shioji said. "People keep guessing and they can't focus on just our outsides."

Palmer and Oliveira are usually the go-to hitters for the Eagles, but the solid passing allowed Kawamura to utilize Lovett, a 5-foot-7 senior, in the middle.

Lovett had five kills each in the second and third sets. She had just two errors and hit a match-high .435.

"The thing about Bri is she works hard for what she is. She's a small middle," Shioji said. "She works and works, and never complains about getting sets or not. I'm very happy for her, what she did tonight."

Added Kawamura: "The passing was perfect. I was able to set everybody. Even if the pass wasn't so perfect I was able to set them and they got the job done."

In the first set, Hawai'i Baptist (20-2) scored six in a row with Kawamura, a 5-5 junior, serving to take a 13-7 lead. The Eagles' advantage reached 24-13 after Kawamura's second ace of the set.

Hilo, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion and No. 4 seed, took a 5-1 lead in the second set behind a solo block and ace by Makamae Namahoe. Hawai'i Baptist tied it at 5-5 and took its first lead of the set at 9-8 on Palmer's ace. A 6-1 run gave the Eagles a 19-13 lead and the Vikings got as close as three on three occasions — the final time at 22-19. Hawai'i Baptist scored the final three points on two kills by Oliveira and one by Lovett.

In the third set, Hawai'i Baptist went on an 8-2 run to take a 14-7 lead. Hilo (14-5) got as close as 19-16.

Hawai'i Baptist finished with seven aces, including three by Kawamura, and forced the Vikings out of system most of the night.

"We saw them play yesterday (against Castle) and we knew who we wanted to target," Shioji said. "We went after them so they can't run their quick offense."

Added Hilo setter Kahealani Vento-Rowe: "Our passing wasn't there. We were trying to run our plays. They had some tough float serves."

Kaycie Jyo had seven kills to lead Hilo, which will play Moloka'i for third place today at 2 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.

AT KALANI

WORD OF LIFE DEF. MOLOKA'I 25-22, 26-24, 25-21

Kainoa Ocasek had 15 kills and Adaiah Hanakahi added nine as the Firebrands beat the Farmers in the semifinals.

Word of Life, the ILH runner-up, improved to 18-5.

Kalei Vaivai had 11 kills for Moloka'i, the Maui Interscholastic League champion and No. 2 seed. The Farmers dropped to 14-1.