Iolani Vs. Mid-Pacific (9/24/26) SENIOR NIGHT!
The Iolani Raiders following their sweep over Mid-Pacific and sending their 5 seniors out in style!
The curtain has fallen!
The Iolani Raiders closed out their 2026 home season with a Senior Night sweep of the Mid-Pacific Owls, 25-14, 25-20, and 25-12, at Iolani High School Gym on Thursday! Iolani also bid farewell to five seniors in Kailee Soma, Kaiya Hadlock, Georgie Lee, Poema Kalama-Kingma, and Hailey Bell!
Mid-Pacific’s Tatiana Taylor anchored the team with eight kills, a block, and an ace in the loss.
Lee and Taimane Ainuʻu anchored Iolani's win! Ainuʻu had 11 kills, a block, and four aces in the win, and Lee also had 11 kills and two aces herself!
Taimane Ainuʻu (middle) confirms the next possession in set 3 in-between 4 of her teammates!
Mid-Pacific drew first blood in the first set, but a Lee kill got Iolani on the board on the next possession.
A Kalama-Kingma block gave Iolani the lead for good two possessions later. Mid-Pacific tried to keep pace, but an Elle Arceneaux kill generated a decisive 14-4 surge to give Iolani a 21-10 lead!
Iolani ran away with the first set, 25-14, with Annaura Reid-Gillet getting the winning kill.
The Iolani team discusses what to come during a timeout in set 2!
Mid-Pacific came out with fire in set two and scored four of the first five; that included an ace from Maelani Hafalia!
Back-to-back kills and a block from Ainuʻu generated a critical 8-2 Iolani run to overhaul Mid-Pacific, 12-11! Ainuʻu had three kills, and Kalama-Kingma and Bell each had an ace during that run.
Iolani Senior Hailey Bell (13) prepares a serve in set 2!
“We got a little bit down on ourselves and got stuck on mistakes we made,” Ainuʻu said. “Everyone came together as a team to push forward and get our lead back!”
Mid-Pacific came back to take the lead, but Iolani’s Ainuʻu had none of it and began a decisive 8-1 run with a kill to jump back in front, 23-18. Kalama-Kingma ended the second set with the final kill, 25-20!
Iolani senior Poema Kalama-Kingma prepares for a serve in set 3!
Iolani immediately extinguished any hopes Mid-Pacific had left and scored the first five straight! That included two aces from Ainuʻu!
“She’s a great setter,” Lee said of Ainuʻu. “Whenever she sends a ball my way, it’s easy to get a kill!”
Mid-Pacific tried to rally! A Taylor Kill and ace put the Owls down, 9-6, but it was all Iolani after that.
Kalama-Kingma, Ainuʻu, and Lee anchored the ship for Iolani with a decisive 7-2 run that allowed the Raiders to run away with set three, 25-12! Kalama-Kingma ended the game with the winning block!
Taimane Ainuʻu prepares to serve the ball in set 3!
Ainuʻu plans to celebrate with the seniors, and Lee plans to celebrate with a vanilla ice cream cone at McDonald’s!
Iolani improves to 5-0 in the ILH and will hit the road for their next match against the Punahou Buffanblu at Punahou High School on Saturday, September 26 at 5 p.m. HST.
Iolani’s Lexi Kawakami (4) prepares to serve in set 2!
