Sarah Palmer had 19 kills and two aces and C'era Oliveira added 10 kills yesterday to help Hawai'i Baptist deny visiting Word of Life, 25-20, 26-24, 25-17, and win its second straight Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II championship.

The Eagles, ranked No. 6 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll of coaches and media, finished 16-2 in the ILH and will receive the league's top seed and first-round bye in the DII state tournament Nov. 5 through Nov. 8.

Word of Life finished 12-6 in league play but also has secured a state tournament berth.

"It feels awesome. We wanted to prove we could come back this year and defend the title," said Palmer, a junior outside hitter. "We worked really hard to get this."

That included yesterday, when HBA trailed at some point in all three sets. But the Eagles used their trademark tough serves and reliable defense to forge ahead and stave off several challenges by the Firebrands.

"You gotta give HBA credit," Word of Life coach LeeAnn Satele said. "They keep fighting and their strength is in their serves, while our weakness was serve-receive, so that worked in their favor."

The Firebrands led 23-21 in the second set, but a kill by Oliveira and an ace by Palmer tied it 23-23 and Palmer's kill put the Eagles up, 25-24, before a Word of Life error ended it.

"It was the same thing — they served tough and got us back on our heels, and we couldn't get the ball in position to run our offense," Satele said.

The first set was tied 13-13, but Palmer had a kill to end a long rally and spark an 8-0 run. The Firebrands rallied to close to 23-20, but Palmer had a kill and an ace to end it.

Word of Life jumped to a 7-3 lead in the third set, but a kill by Taryn Bohan sparked an 8-1 run to put HBA up 11-8. Taylor Ka'alele's kill cut it to 11-9, but the Eagles ran off three more points and the Firebrands could not get closer than four points the rest of the way.

"We just had to focus and play as a team," Palmer said. "They're a tough team, and they don't give up."

Hawai'i Baptist defeated defending Division I state runner-up 'Iolani earlier this season and played tough against three-time defending DI champ Kamehameha. But Eagles coach Myles Shioji said winning the ILH DII title is a significant accomplishment in itself.

"Word of Life is real athletic and they're well-coached, and if not for a few plays here or there the match could have been different," Shioji said. "(Winning the DII title) is always a great achievement, and it's a good thing to see the girls' hard work pay off. There's some tough teams in Division II, and we took everybody seriously."

Crystal Powell led the Firebrands with 10 kills.