Kamehameha's David Ka'a'a puts a kill attempt down against Saint Louis. Greg Yamamoto | SL

Purchase image 1 of 3

Saint Louis' Zach Miyamoto attempts to get a kill attempt past the Kamehameha double block. Greg Yamamoto | SL

Purchase image 2 of 3

Kamehameha's Kaehu Ka'a'a puts down a kill attempt against Saint Louis. Greg Yamamoto | SL

Purchase image 3 of 3

KAPALAMA HEIGHTS — Win and you're in; that was the situation for the Kamehameha boys' volleyball team Monday.

Led by a match-high 21 kills by Kaehu Ka'a'a, Kamehameha took care of business by sweeping Saint Louis to secure its spot in next month's Division I state tournament. A crowd of about 150 fans at the Warriors' Kekuhaupio Gymnasium saw the hosts beat the Crusaders by scores of 25-22, 25-14 and 25-21 to improve to 10-3.

"It was definitely a big win for us to beat Saint Louis today and get into the state tournament," said Ka'a'a, a senior outside hitter. "We didn't want to have to play them again so it was a great, team win today against a good team."

A loss against Saint Louis would meant the end of the season for Kamehameha. Instead it will move on in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu double-elimination tournament to face unbeaten Punahou Tuesday. That match will be held at the Buffanblu's Hemmeter Fieldhouse at 7 p.m.

"We just needed to win and get the second berth," said Kamehameha coach Kainoa Downing, whose lost to Punahou in the state final last year. "That way we can go to states and have a chance. Without a chance, you can't play for the state championship."

The Warriors will have to beat the Buffanblu three times in the next four days to take the overall league title and a first-round bye at states — a daunting task, to say the least, but for now, they will celebrate a return trip to the big dance.

"If we don't win, I'm not going to be really mad, but we're still going to try as hard as we can to win the ILH championship," Ka'a'a said. "They have a really good team and hopefully we can hone our skills against them at least the next game, maybe the next few games going into states."

Ka'a'a carried Kamehameha Monday with seven kills in each game to go with two service aces and a block.

"He has to do that for us," Downing said of Ka'a'a. "It's important for him to keep his play going. I made a few subs that didn't help the momentum, but I have to see other kids and it breaks the momentum of our group, but how do we handle that is important."

It is a role that Ka'a'a has embraced and thrived in all season.

"It's kind of a responsibility for me," Ka'a'a said. "I'm one of the leaders, so I have to do as much as I possible can to help my team out and I think the serving and the defense will not only make me better, but will help the team to get better."

Downing used just one timeout during the match and it came early, when Saint Louis jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the opening set.

"They just came in hot," Downing said of the Crusaders. "They had nothing to lose, they just came off of a big win against Iolani, they're a motivated bunch of guys and I didn't want them to take too much momentum and run us out, they could have easily chewed us up and got out of here. I just wanted to try and stop their momentum, because they're a good bunch of athletes and you can't let that happen. That's my job is to stop that."

Saint Louis held a 15-11 lead a little later, but Kamehameha answered with a 7-2 run to take an 18-17 lead. Ka'a'a said the timeout gave Downing a chance to remind them to stay even-keel.

"He told us to play steady and don't ride the emotions of the game, but to stay level-headed and just keep on playing throughout the match point-by-point," Ka'a'a said.

The Crusaders hung tough and staved off a first game point with a kill by Adrian Faitalia — one of his eight kills in the set — but Ka'a'a went over the block on the ensuing point to give the Warriors the 25-22 win.

"I feel like after the first set we got our jitters out and we started to play relaxed volleyball and we all relied on our skills to play, not the emotion," Ka'a'a said.

That seemed to be the case in game two, as Kamehameha blitzed Saint Louis with an opening run of 5-0 and never looked back. It extended its lead to 14-3 and closed out the set by scoring the final three points. David Ka'a'a had three blocks and two kills in game two and finished with six blocks and three kills for the match.

Game three was more of the same. The Warriors took a 7-2 lead, but Faitalia put down three kills and had an ace in a 5-2 Crusaders' run that tied it at 13. However, Ka'a'a answered by serving seven straight points for the Warriors to give them a commanding 20-13 lead they would not relinquish. Ka'a'a scored the final two Kamehameha points to secure a 25-21 win and the match in straight sets.

Bryson Barian-Garcia had six kills and two blocks and George Kailiwai added five kills and a block for the Warriors, who committed 13 hitting errors and eight service errors.

Faitalia had a team-high 19 kills with two aces and a block to lead the Crusaders, who had six hitting errors and seven service errors. They finish the season with a 7-8 mark.