2026 Hawaiʻi Luau 16U Girls Championship (7/19/26)
The Hawaiian Hammahs celebrate their 16U Championship at the Hawaiʻi Luau!
It was all about starting runs and finishing strong!
The Hawaiian Hammahs used an early 9-1 run in the third set to pound out back-to-back 16U division championships in a 3-set win over goatflow5, 21-19, 19-21, and 15-8, at Kailua District Park on Sunday!
Both teams were neck and neck at the drop of the gates in the first set! They split the first four points, but an Eden Savaiigaea ace generated a mini 4-0 Hawaiian Hammahs run to take a small 5-2 lead!
Sanoe Holani-Frank of the Hawaiian Hammahs goes for the ball here!
The goatflow5 team responded back to retake the lead with a massive 13-4 run with six unanswered to take a 16-11 lead, but the Hawaiian Hammahs did not back down.
During that 13-4 goatflow5 run, the Hawaiian Hammahs pounded out a 7-2 run themselves to get back in contention!
The Hawaiian Hammahs wrestled control again and turned that 7-2 run into a 12-4 run overall to end the first set. Savaiigaea put the nail in the coffin with a kill to win the first set, 21-19!
Set two saw a strong start for Hawaiian Hammahs. Talia Mamea, a student at Mililani High School, drew first blood and turned it into an early 5-3 lead.
As the set reached double-digits for both teams, goatflow5 got back in the game due to multiple Hawaiian Hammah errors. It resulted in a 6-1 goatflow5 run to take a 19-15 lead.
“A lot of the points they had were off of our errors,” said Sanoe Holani-Frank, who attends University Lab School.
The Hawaiian Hammahs pushed through and came back to tie the score at 19, but goatflow5 lucked out with a kill and another long Hawaiian Hammahs serve that ended the second set with the 21-19 win to force a third set.
goatflow5 goes for a point on the Hawaiian Hammahs.
“We were also really tired from the previous game before that – we went to three,” said Holani-Frank.
The final set was all the Hawaiian Hammahs! A Mamea block started an immediate 9-1 run out of the gates! That included two aces, one from Holani-Frank, and was punctuated on a Gabriella Ho-Lucas kill!
Ho-Lucas also plays club soccer for Leahi.
e’Lexxia Poland executed a kill for goatflow5 to end that run, but Savaiigaea, Ho-Lucas, and Mamea fired back for Hawaiian Hammahs to take a 13-3 lead!
e’Lexxia Poland of goatflow5 goes for a hit here.
“I had it in me and was like, ‘I’m not losing this game!’” said Holani-Frank. “I think we all had it in us!”
With their backs against the wall, goatflow5 had no choice but to rally and gave themselves an outside chance!
Mililani resident Eden Kruse executed a service ace as part of an eleventh hour 5-1 run for goatflow5 and trailed 14-8, but that was the closest they got!
The Hawaiian Hammahs slammed the door with a kill to take set three, 15-8, and the championship!
Holani-Frank plans to celebrate with her team by hitting one of the beaches to jump in the water and cool off.
Alycia Photos Luau
Cory Photos Luau
