The Kamehameha Schools girls volleyball team is now one victory away from completing its "Drive for Five."

The Warriors swept No. 2 seed and O'ahu Interscholastic Association champion Kahuku, 27-25, 25-16, 25-20, in last night's New City Nissan/Hawai'i High School Athletic Association Championship semifinals and will face top seed and Interscholastic League of Honolulu champ Punahou in tonight's title match.

First serve is set for 7 at the University of Hawai'i's Stan Sheriff Center, and the match will be televised live statewide on OC16.

The teams met in last year's final, which Kamehameha won for its fourth straight crown.

But Punahou, 21-0 in regular and postseason play, won both meetings this year, including a five-set victory in the ILH championship match two weeks ago.

Last night, a vocal crowd of about 650 at Radford's Jim Alegre Gymnasium watched Kamehameha (19-3) rally past a Red Raiders team that had won 16 straight matches after losing their regular season opener at Moanalua on Aug. 18.

Kahuku came back from an 18-10 deficit in the first set and went on a 6-1 run to take a 23-21 lead. After a Warriors timeout, Kamehameha scored three straight points on Taylor Akana's kill and two blocks by Nicole Sniffen. The Red Raiders then tied it on a push kill by Elizabeth Blake, and the teams traded points before Misty Ma'a put Kamehameha up, 26-25, on a kill from the right side.

Fellow sophomore Amber Wasco then ended it on a kill from the left side.

"We just had to settle down and get focused," said Akana, a senior outside hitter. "It was mostly on our side of the net, and we felt we had to win because we had been leading for most of the set."

Kahuku coach Uila Fotu Vendiola said that first set was a turning point.

"That first game was key, because for us to come back the way we did, if we were to win it, it would have been a big momentum swing," Fotu Vendiola said. "But against a good team like Kamehameha, you cannot afford to make the kind of mistakes we made. We dug ourselves a hole that was difficult to get out of."

The Warriors started fast again in the second set, jumping to leads of 4-1, 14-6 and 20-12.

And in Game 3, it was even faster.

Wasco had three kills as Kamehameha led 10-1, before the Red Raiders eventually clawed back to pull within 22-19. But Talia Jardin-Fermentez slammed home a stray ball to put the Warriors up 23-19, and a Kahuku error set up match point at 24-20. Sniffen then finished it off with a kill down the middle.

Jardin-Fermentez led Kamehameha with a match-high 14 kills, and Ma'a added 10 kills.

"I'm definitely proud of how we came out of the gates, and how we settled down at the end and shut the door," Warriors coach Chris Blake said. "We expected Kahuku to be tough, they're the OIA champs and they're seasoned. But to pull out that first set, it set the tone for the match and even in sets 2 and 3, we served tough, had good runs and kept the pressure on.

"Everybody contributed, and it was a great team win."

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