A tough serving game and hard-hitting Sarah Palmer helped top-seeded Hawai'i Baptist advance to the title game.

Palmer had 16 kills on an assortment of shots as Hawai'i Baptist defeated Moloka'i, 25-21, 25-16, in the semifinals of the New City Nissan/Hawai'i High School Athletic Association girls state Division II volleyball tournament last night at Radford High School.

The Eagles (16-4), the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II champion, will face second-seeded Seabury Hall (14-0) in tonight's championship at McKinley at 7:30.

"At this point, it's all about minor adjustments," Hawai'i Baptist coach Myles Shioji said. "We did all our work in practice."

Tied at 11 in Game 2 — the fifth tie of the game — the Eagles went on an 8-2 run to pull away. Libero Kelly Chang had back-to-back service aces during the run, throwing off the Farmers' passing game, and Chelsie Mow had a block and her only kill of the match.

After a Hawai'i Baptist error that made it 21-16, the Eagles scored the final four points to seal the win.

The tough serving of the Eagles, who finished with nine aces — six of them in Game 1, kept the Farmers (12-3) out of rhythm.

"Technically wise and defensive wise, they just keep coming and keep coming," Moloka'i coach Matt Helm said. "We just broke down on serve-receive. We keep hitting at them and they keep coming back."

Down 13-6 in the first game, the Farmers closed to 14-12 on Danna Lynn Hooper-Juario's ace.

Palmer then had three straight kills to extend the lead to 17-12, but Moloka'i slowly chipped away at the deficit, taking a 21-20 lead on a Hawai'i Baptist error.

After an Eagles timeout, Palmer picked up a kill out of the back row — one of several she had on the night, and Jenna Kawamura had three aces to end the first game.

"I was just looking for the open spots on the court and the back row players just helped me find the spots," Palmer said of her hits out of the back.

Kawamura said the serving was a "team effort."

"We just had to keep it in and be consistent," Kawamura said.

"We try to serve everybody tough and we knew Moloka'i was tough and we really had to serve tough to get them out of their game," Shioji added. "If we didn't, we'd be in for a long night."

Helm said he won't make many adjustments for the Farmers' third-place match against Word of Life (14-7) today.

"It was one of those nights," Helm said. "They executed their game plan, we didn't. They dug everything we hit at them.

"If we executed, I think the result might have been different."

Kalei Adolpho, Moloka'i's 6-foot freshman middle blocker, rejoined the team after finishing 19th at yesterday's state cross country meet on Maui. She left the team after Thursday's match.

Kelsy Takashima led the Farmers with seven kills.

Reach Stanley Lee at sktlee@honoluluadvertiser.com.