Kahuku completed a perfect O'ahu Interschoastic Assocation girls volleyball season in thrilling fashion last night by holding off Moanalua, 25-18, 21-25, 28-26, 22-25, 15-13, for the Red Conference championship.

The Red Raiders finished 16-0 in league play and will receive the OIA's top seed and a first-round bye in next week's state tournament.

Na Menehune ended up 13-4 in league play, with all four losses coming to Kahuku.

Last night's 2 1/2-hour marathon at McKinley's Student Council Gym ended at 10:55 p.m., and was Moanalua's third five-set match in as many days.

Kahuku defeated Na Menehune in Tuesday's semifinals and Moanalua outlasted Farrington in Wednesday's elimination match.

The fatigue appeared to show in the first set last night, when Na Menehune took a 17-12 lead only to see the Red Raiders respond with a shocking 13-1 run.

Moanalua rebounded in the second set, using a 7-1 run to break a 16-16 tie on the way to evening the match.

Moanalua led 24-21 in the third set and served for game point twice, but the Red Raiders fought back and scored the final three points on two Na Menehune hitting errors and a kill by Nile Te'o.

But Kahuku returned the favor in the fourth set, letting a 12-6 lead slip away until Moanalua tied it at 21-21 on Erin Perez's kill.

Na Menehune then took a 23-22 lead on a kill by Courtney Calicdan, and Moanalua went up 24-22 after a Red Raiders kill attempt went long.

Moanalua's Kaylee Ponce then ended it with a kill off a back-row dig attempt, setting Moanalua up for a fifth set.

The teams traded the first 12 points in fifth set until Tialei Wesley's block started Kahuku on an 8-1 run for an apparently comfortable 14-7 lead. But Na Menehune refused to go down quietly, scoring six straight points highlighted by Ponce's four kills.

Te'o finally ended it with a no-look dink that landed behind an unsuspecting Moanalua block.

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