KAHUKU — The O'ahu Interscholastic Association's new "best-of-five" format for girls volleyball allowed Kahuku to put an exclamation point on its sweep of pesky Roosevelt last night.

The defending league runner-up Red Raiders won, 25-20, 25-18, 25-9, to improve to 3-0 in the OIA's Red Conference Eastern Division. Roosevelt, which finished fourth in last year's state tournament, fell to 0-3.

For the first time, the OIA has expanded its volleyball matches from a "best-of-three" format to a "best-of-five," after the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association announced this past summer that will be the format for the state tournament championship bracket.

Kahuku looked physically dominant at times in the first two sets last night, but the traditionally scrappy Rough Riders hung tough and the Red Raiders had trouble pulling away in each game.

Kahuku went up 17-11 and 22-16 in the first set, only to see Roosevelt close it to 22-18. Two kills by Jovan Falemalu finally helped the Red Raiders close it out.

In the second game, Candace Tufaga's kill ended a long rally to put Kahuku up, 19-14, for a seemingly commanding lead. But the Rough Riders again refused to fade and closed it to 20-17 before blocks by Falemalu and Elizabeth Blake, and a kill by middle blocker Amanda Tonga helped the Red Raiders pull away for good.

"Roosevelt's always been a challenge for us," said Kahuku senior outside hitter Nile Te'o, a four-year starter. "They were playing really good defense in the first two games."

In set 3, however, the Rough Riders had no answer for Kahuku as the Red Raiders jumped out to a 6-0 lead and never looked back. Kahuku led 11-1, 17-4 and 20-6 as reserves finished the match.

"We're really excited about this team," said Red Raiders coach Uila Vendiola. "It's a solid team and they're stronger because they're playing well together. We beat McKinley on Tuesday but I wasn't too happy with how we played. Tonight I'm much happier with their performance."

First-year Roosevelt coach Rudy Sambrano said his team is still in the learning process with only two starters returning from last year.

"About half the team is returnees, but not all of them played a lot last year," said Sambrano, who was a volunteer assistant for three years to longtime coach Bryan Camello, who stepped down last December.

Both coaches said they like the new best-of-five format.

"I think it's good," Sambrano said. "It gives the kids more experience."

Vendiola said: "I love it. With the depth that we have, I can get everyone in the game."