Riding a one-month win streak and the explosive right arm of outside hitter Kaleinani Kabalis, Moanalua swept Kahuku 27-25, 25-15 last night to win its first O'ahu Interscholastic Association girls volleyball championship since 2000.

Na Menehune, ranked No. 8 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll of coaches and media, improved to 12-4 in league play with their seventh straight victory and will receive the OIA's top seed and first round bye in next week's state tournament in Hilo.

Kahuku, ranked No. 6, fell to 12-3 and will begin state tournament play in Wednesday's first round.

"It feels awesome, I want to go back to my hometown and play in front of my family and friends over there," said Kabalis, a 5-foot-6 1/2 senior who transferred from Hilo High after her freshman year. "We wanted it a lot, and we played as a team."

Kabalis finished with a match-high 20 kills and 17 digs.

She started with two trademark power kills and notched two more as Moanalua took an 11-8 lead. But the Red Raiders finally got into a groove and put together a 9-4 run to go up, 17-15.

They maintained the lead and served for game point at 24-22, but a hitting error gave Na Menehune sideout and Kabalis landed a kill from the back row to tie it, 24-24.

After Lavina Latu's kill put Kahuku at game point again, Kabalis nailed another back row kill and Deanna Maio's ace gave Moanalua a 26-25 lead.

Kaylee Ponce then ended it with a crosscourt kill from the left side.

"That was a huge turning point," Red Raiders coach Uila Fotu Vendiola said. "It was big confidence booster for (Na Menehune) and kind of a letdown for our team."

The effects showed early in the second game, as Moanalua jumped out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back.

Kahuku closed it to 4-3, but Kabalis had three kills and Sarah Robinson added a kill and a block as Na Menehune strung together a 7-1 run to lead 11-4.

The Red Raiders managed to close it to 12-8, but Moanalua answered with five straight points to take a commanding 17-8 lead.

"The momentum from the first game definitely helped," Na Menehune coach Tommy Lake said. "It took a while for (Kahuku) to get going."

Through the end, Kabalis continued to make her presence felt no matter her position on the court. She committed only four hitting errors in 22 attempts, finishing with a spectacular .727 percentage.

Six of her kills came from the back row, from where she still would elevate and send shots with velocity to open areas in the Red Raiders' defense.

In addition to her defense, Kabalis also stayed with a powerful jump serve, even when facing game point at 24-23.

"We figured, 'Just go for it, don't hold back,' " Kabalis said. "I just went for it."

That seems to have been Moanalua's attitude since Sept. 27, when a 25-21, 25-15 loss to Roosevelt dropped Na Menehune to 5-4.

They haven't lost since.

"Kalei has done a great job as a captain, she really pulled this team together," Lake said. "Everybody was able to buy into the team concept."

Lake said that in last year's OIA title match loss to Roosevelt, the team appeared tentative, and but last night was a different story.

"I wanted them to let it go and have fun," Lake said. "They just went after it."

Read Wes Nakama's blog on prep sports at http://blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.