Iolani Vs. Kamehameha (9/12/2026)

The Iolani Raiders celebrate after a point scored in set 3!

The Iolani Raiders used some grit and toughness en route to a 4-set win over the Kamehameha Warriors, 25-15, 18-25, 25-10, and 25-21, at Iolani High School on Saturday. It was also the beginning of a 5-game homestand for Iolani.

Iolani and Kamehameha were neck and neck out of the gates in the first set with six ties early. With the score tied, 9-9, Iolani’s Taimane Ainuʻu executed back-to-back kills to ignite a massive 16-6 run to win the first set, 25-15.

Taimane Ainuʻu of Iolani during her serve on this possession in set 4.

Kamehameha hit the reset button in set two! After trailing briefly, 3-1, the Warriors ignited a massive 16-8 run while Iolani had trouble getting some momentum in their corner. That included multiple kills from Sauimoana Purcell and Kealoha Lyons.

The Raiders made a late push, but the Warriors were too far ahead and won set two, 25-18.

“Our communication decreased a little bit,” said Iolani’s Mary-Kate Kawakami.

Mary-Kate Kawakami (11) preps for the following possession in set 1 with her team!

Iolani hit the reset button themselves for set three. Georgie Lee ignited an early 5-1 run out of the gate with a kill and an ace for the Raiders! With Iolani leading, 5-3, a regular point ignited a gigantic 19-4 run, including eight unanswered!

Mary-Kate Kawakami with another serve to Kamehameha here!

Iolani cruised to the 25-10 win in set three; Elle Arceneaux put the clamps on that with the game-winning kill.

Set four saw another close start between the Raiders and Warriors. A service error from the Warriors resulted in a momentum-turning 8-3 run for the Raiders with the score tied at four. As a result, Iolani took a 12-7 lead.

Iolani’s Georgie Lee #8 serves the ball here to Kamehameha!

Iolani led from that point on, but Kamehameha did not go down quietly! The Warriors used three unanswered shortly after that to pull within two, 14-12, but that was the closest they got.

Iolani reeled off five unanswered after that, punctuated by an Annaura Reid-Gillet kill to make the gap seven, 19-12! Kamehameha-Kapalama cut the gap in half, but Iolani’s Poema Kalama-Kingma slammed the door with the game-winning kill to end the fourth set, 25-21!

Poema Kalama-Kingma gets ready to serve the ball here for Iolani!

“In the third and fourth sets, we came back together and showed them who we are,” said Kawakami.

These two teams will meet again on the Iolani floor on Tuesday, September 22, and they will face off against the Mid-Pacific Owls next Tuesday, September 15, again on Friday, September 18, and on Thursday, September 24, 2026. All tipoffs are scheduled for 6 pm HST.