The Punahou girls volleyball team served notice that despite losing its past two matches, it was nowhere near ready for its season to end.

Punahou defeated 'Iolani, 25-15, 25-17 in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu postseason tournament semifinal match last night at Punahou School in front of about 600 fans.

Behind its strong serving — including four service aces — Punahou prevented 'Iolani from gaining any rhythm offensively.

"Serving is something we try to focus on," senior outside hitter Larissa Nordyke said. "I think we did a really good job of that tonight."

With the win, Punahou (14-2) advances to the tournament championship to play Kamehameha, the first-round winner and 25-21, 25-21 winner over Hawai'i Baptist last night.

Should the Warriors win the ILH tournament, which will be decided when Punahou plays at Kamehameha tomorrow at 6:30 p.m., they will be crowned ILH champ and awarded the league's top berth in the state tournament.

Punahou and 'Iolani (13-3), the second-place finisher in the first round, would play off for the ILH's second state tournament spot.

If Punahou wins, it plays Kamehameha for the overall title.

"There's a lot of volleyball left," Punahou coach Jim Iams said. "This could turn out to be a great situation for us."

But last night, the Buffanblu moved one step closer to earning a state berth after easily handling 'Iolani. It was a night when even off-balanced, unconventional shots by the Buffanblu found the floor.

"I think everyone played well," said Nordyke, who had 10 kills, five in each game. "We just took it play by play."

Punahou raced ahead to leads of a 9-1 — with the help of sophomore Anuhea Keanini, who served seven straight including two aces — and 19-7 behind its serving in Game 1.

"We didn't concentrate on serving any more than any other match," Iams said. "I tell the players not to be afraid to miss. It's your first chance to score a point."

'Iolani coach Jenic Tumaneng said the Buffanblu "took advantage of playing in their home gym. They knew where to serve long and short."

Tumaneng believed 'Iolani could have come back "if we took care of the ball on our side. When we did, we started getting sideouts and points."

Iolani scored four straight on three Punahou errors to close to 19-11, but wouldn't get no closer than those eight points the rest of the game.

"There were several times in game one we got careless and made poor choices," Iams said. "We had several opportunities to go after the ball defensively."

The Buffanblu continued on in Game 2, starting out with a 12-3 lead, again with the help of Keanini, who served Punahou's first five points of the game.

"We changed up our defense a little," Nordyke said. "Our blocking was a little different and so was our floor defense."

The Raiders made it 22-17 on a lift call on Punahou, but the Buffanblu closed out the match with one hitting and one service error by 'Iolani. A double block by Pihana Kea and Shawna-Lei Kuehu ended it.

"You can get lost in the fact that it looked like a one-sided game, but it wasn't," Iams said.

Lauren Minkel had five kills for 'Iolani, and Marya Kaminski added four.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.