Members of the Moloka'i girls volleyball team weren't born when tragedy struck the Friendly Isle 20 years ago.

But it still serves as inspiration.

Kalei Adolpho had 13 kills, and Danna-Lynn Hooper and Kailana Ritte-Camara each added 10 as Moloka'i defeated University High, 25-14, 16-25, 25-22, 25-16, in the quarterfinals of the New City Nissan Division II Girls State Volleyball Championships at Kalani.

"I'm very proud of our team tonight," Hooper said. "We stuck it out even though we were down sometimes."

Moloka'i, the Maui Interscholastic League champion and No. 2 seed, will play Word of Life in the semifinals tonight at 7.

Wednesday marked the 20th anniversary of a plane crash that claimed the lives of 20, including eight players on the Moloka'i High boys and girls volleyball teams, girls coach Odetta Reyes Rapanot and athletic director John Ino. The flight from Maui went down in heavy clouds at the cliffs near Hälawa Valley.

The Moloka'i players wear "1712" — the flight number —on their practice jerseys and "Flight 1712" patches on their game jerseys.

"We use it as motivation," said Hooper, a 5-foot-4 senior. "We're not only playing for ourselves, we're playing for our community and everybody else that supports us. We have angels with us."

In the first set, Moloka'i (15-0) led 18-8 before the Jr. Rainbows scored six of the next seven to get within 19-14. Moloka'i responded by scoring the final six points of the set with Kawena Puhi serving.

"I thought we came out very, very strong," said Moloka'i coach Matthew Helm, who lost his sister Natalie, a Farmers sophomore, in the crash. "The first set we hardly had any hitting errors."

In the second set, University High's tough serving put Moloka'i out of system.

Angie Yoshizu served seven in a row as the Jr. Rainbows took a 16-8 lead. The Farmers had five hitting errors during the run.

"Sometimes we were kind of shaky," said Adolpho, a 6-1 junior. "We've been like that all season. We get lower and lower and lower. We need to work on that."

In the third set, two kills by Adolpho and one by Ritte-Camara gave the Farmers a 17-9 lead. University High, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's third-place team, got within 23-21 and 24-22, before Adolpho ended it with a kill.

In the fourth, Moloka'i went on a 14-7 set-ending run.

Quynne Eharis had 11 kills to lead University High (12-11).

In other quarterfinal matches:

WORD OF LIFE DEF. KAISER, 26-24, 25-22, 25-20

Kainoa Ocasek had 16 kills as the Firebrands beat the Cougars.

"I thought they played excellent," said Word of Life coach LeeAnn Satele. "I was most impressed with their mental toughness. We didn't give away many points tonight."

In the first set, Word of Life, the ILH runner-up, led 24-22, but a kill by Nikki Taylor and solo block by Haley Durham tied it. But the Firebrands pulled it out on Phoibe Fetu's kill and Alexis Villa's ace.

Word of Life ended the second set with a 5-2 run, including two kills and a block by Kaena Kaina.

In the third, Word of Life (17-5) went on a 9-2 run to take a 21-13 advantage. Kaiser, the O'ahu Interscholastic Association champion and No. 3 seed, got as close as four twice.

Taylor had eight kills for Kaiser (13-4).

HILO DEF. CASTLE, 25-22, 25-19, 21-25, 25-21

Kahealani Vento-Rowe had 14 kills, 10 digs and 25 assists to lead the fourth-seeded Vikings. Verna-Marie Lynch had 11 kills for the Knights.

HAWAI'I BAPTIST DEF. KAILUA, 25-13, 25-18, 25-21

Sarah Palmer had 18 kills and C'era Oliveira added 15 for the top-seeded Eagles. Dancel Williams had nine kills for the Surfriders.