Kili Robins notched 15 kills to fend off a pesky Kapolei team, including six in the final set of a 3-0 sweep. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Braelyn Akana (14) and Lexis Akeo (11) get hyped up after scoring a point. Akeo had a game-high 39 assists. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Death, taxes and Kamehameha in the state final. Put it in the bank.

Led by Kili Robins' 15 kills and Lexis Akeo's 39 assists, the Warriors swept past a pesky Kapolei team Friday night and are headed back to their 15th consecutive appearance in the championship match. The scores were 25-18, 25-20 and 25-23.

Kamehameha, the top-seed in this week's New City Nissan/HHSAA Division I Girls Volleyball State Championships, improved to 12-2 on the year and will meet a familiar foe in fellow-Interscholastic League of Honolulu member Iolani in Saturday's title match.

First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center Arena.

A crowd of about 1,000 at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium saw the Warriors turn back the upset-minded Hurricanes, who fell to 14-2.

Robins, a 5-foot-11 senior outside hitter/opposite took a match-high 37 swings — with just seven errors — and hit .216, which matched the Warriors' hitting percentage as a team. She also recorded eight digs and one of her team's three service aces.

"Kili was doing great things," Kamehameha coach Chris Blake said. "She executed really, really well in terms of the things we're supposed to do. She moved the ball around, she blocked a number of balls, she passed really well. It's been a real big progression for her, but we lean on her as one of our captains an she does a great job of making sure of not only doing her job, but making sure her team is doing their job, too."

Akeo, a junior setter, spread the wealth to the Warriors' multitude of weapons.

Keonilei Akana hit .304 with nine kills and eight digs, Maile McClure had eight kills and Braelyn Akana seven.

"I know I can trust everybody to swing and the passes were good where I can distribute it to everybody," said Akeo, who has already given a verbal commitment to the University of Pittsburgh.

Libero Kealani Ontai posted a match-high 19 digs for the Warriors, who out dug the Hurricanes, 59 to 44.

Braelyn Akana (14) and Lexis Akeo (11) get hyped up after scoring a point. Akeo had a game-high 39 assists. Greg Yamamoto | SL    Purchase image

The win, however, didn't come without its share of adversity.

The Hurricanes kept pace for most of the first two games and led for a good portion of the third, but were unable to overcome 16 hitting errors and seven service errors.

"If we could have hung on the whole time — we did a little bit of roller coastering — but if we stayed the same I think it would have been a little bit more competitive," Kapolei coach Naidah Gamurot said. "It's just those little lows where we couldn't maintain for a long period of time."

Kamehameha separated in game 1 with a 4-0 run capped by a Keonilei Akana kill to take a 13-8 lead. Kapolei got to within two following Amryi Paris' kill that cut the deficit to 15-13. However, Akeo found Robins, Kalina Obrey and Keonilei Akana for consecutive kills to stretch the lead back to five and the Warriors scored six of the final nine points in the set.

Tiffany Mook's ace midway through game 2 gave Kapolei a 13-12 advantage, but Kamehameha answered with a 9-2 run that included a pair of kills by Obrey to seize a 20-14 lead and never looked back.

Game 3, however, was a different story.

The Hurricanes jumped out to a 12-8 lead thanks in part to a 7-2 run that included a pair of Tihani Guzman aces and was capped by back-to-back kills by Michelyn Pililaau in the middle.

"We have ups and downs, but I think we're best at fighting through these adversities and I think we're known to come back and play harder when we're in tough situations," Robins said.

That they did.

Robins put down a kill from the left side that sparked a 12-2 run that gave the Warriors a 20-14 lead. Kapolei hung around and eventually staved off three match points to pull to within 24-23 after a Paris kill and consecutive aces by Anela Pakaki-Pias, but Keonilei Akana closed out the match with her fifth kill of the set.

"Kapolei came out really strong and they really made us work for each of our points and we were having a little bit of a struggle starting off strong in each set, so it was mostly a catch up the whole game," Akeo said.

Robins put down six kills in the final set.

"Our team, we just dig deep and try to trust each other that we'll make the right decisions," she said.

Blake said being able to serve tough was a key factor in the match.

"Kapolei is so big and physical, and for all that they did during the season definitely prepared them for this and I was very happy that we were able to cause some trouble for their serve-receive, but again it came down to what we needed to do to execute and what we did on their adjustments and our kids did a great job of doing that," Blake said.

At the net, the Warriors were able to get their hands on a lot of the Hurricanes' attack, which translated to easier passes for the back row players to find Akeo.

"There were only a couple of times that their hitters got clean looks and again, it's a testament to what the kids did in executing the game plan, but it was a great team win for us," Blake said. "Those kinds of plays and things like that don't happen without all fifteen of our scholar-athletes being checked in and that game wasn't necessarily won right here, it was won in our practices over the course of the season, so I'm proud of a great team win for us."

Kapolei, which was seeking its first appearance in a state final, was held to a .103 hitting percentage of the match.

Pililaau had 10 kills and Paris nine to pace the OIA runner-up Hurricanes, who will face Kahuku for third place at 2 p.m. Saturday at the NBC Arena.

Mook finished with 11 digs and setter Olivia Transfiguracion notched 24 assists in the loss.

The match was a rematch of a 2016 state quarterfinal, which the Warriors also won in three sets.

Kamehameha, which won its second consecutive ILH title this season, will try for its record 21st state crown when it meets ILH runner-up Iolani Saturday in a rematch of the last two state title matches.

The Warriors won in five sets in 2015, while the Raiders got redemption in four sets last year.

The teams have met four times this season, with Kamehameha winning each of the previous three matches.