Finally firing on all cylinders, the Moanalua High School girls volleyball team revved it up and then raced past first-place Kahuku, 25-19, 25-23, last night in its regular season home finale.

A vocal Senior Night crowd of about 600 watched Na Menehune — ranked No. 9 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll of coaches and media — improve to 7-4 in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association's Red Conference Eastern Division. The Red Raiders, ranked No. 5, fell to 9-2 and into a first-place tie with Roosevelt (9-2) after their second straight loss.

Kahuku ends the regular season at home tomorrow against Kailua (5-6); Roosevelt's finale is tomorrow at Kaiser (1-10).

The Red Raiders had beaten Moanalua at home last month, but Na Menehune's two-time All-State outside hitter, Kaleinani Kabalis, sat out that match due to academic issues. Those issues have since been resolved, and last night Kabalis notched a match-high nine kills and five aces, many coming in her usual spectacular fashion.

"She's a huge player for them, a big factor," Kahuku coach Uila Fotu Vendiola said. "She does it serving, hitting, (with) defense ... When she makes a play, it picks their whole team up."

Kabalis' impact was felt early, as her two kills on tip shots tied the first game 4-4. Three serves later, Sarah Robinson's kill gave Moanalua a 6-5 lead and Na Menehune never trailed again.

After the Red Raiders closed to 16-13, Moanalua went on a 6-1 run, capitalizing on four Kahuku hitting errors.

"We had too many errors," Fotu Vendiola said. "We couldn't sustain any drives; every time we scored, they would come back."

The Red Raiders regrouped in the second game and jumped to a 5-0 lead, but Kabalis had a kill and a block to help Na Menehune rally for five straight points. She then served six straight points — including three jump-serve aces — as Moanalua took a 14-8 lead and never looked back.

"(Kabalis) really pulled this team together emotionally," Na Menehune coach Tommy Lake said. "It's a team effort now, and as much as you try to coach that, it's never as effective as when you have a team leader on the floor getting everybody to buy into it."

Kahuku got as close as 24-23 after an ace by Nina Blake, but Kabalis set Robinson for a kill on the left side to end the match and set off a celebration by the largely blue-clad Na Menehune cheering section.

"I think we're playing well as a team now," said Kabalis, a 5-foot-8 senior co-captain. "We're going for it more, not looking behind us."

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.