Kalaheo's Kupa'a Harrison strikes a kill past a McKinley blocker. Sean Nakamura | SL

View image 1 of 4

Kalaheo's Sam Orcutt (13) strikes the ball past McKinley blockers Devin Smith (24) and Thor Akana (10). Sean Nakamura | SL

View image 2 of 4

McKinley's Jerry Wu (12) makes a kill attempt past a pair of Kalaheo blockers. Sean Nakamura | SL

View image 3 of 4

Kalaheo's Luke Owens touches the court in celebration after successfully drilling a kill against McKinley. Sean Nakamura | SL

View image 4 of 4

Undefeated Kalaheo got all it could handle and then some from a tough McKinley squad in a four-set thriller but prevailed, 25-22, 23-25, 28-26, 26-24, punching its ticket to Thursday's championship bracket finale.

"It was a really big (win), they had a lot of momentum from their crowd and they would get ahead of us and we had to battle back." said Kalaheo outside hitter Kupa'a Harrison.

McKinley built an early 7-2 lead in the opening set, much to the delight of the Tiger faithful in attendance, but Kalaheo slowly but surely chipped away at the margin, and enjoyed their first lead at the 15-14 mark on a Silila Tucker kill.

The Stangs largest margin of the set came at 23-20 on a Tucker to Sam Orcutt connection and the two combined once again at set point to give Kalaheo the early 1-0 advantage.

The second set saw the Mustangs enjoy an early cushion, as yet another Orcutt kill stretched the Kalaheo lead to four. McKinley rallied at the midway point, going on a 7-0 scoring run to lead 14-11, but Kalaheo countered on a Tucker kill to even the count at 15-all.

At 23-all however, it was the home team that broke through after the eleventh tie of the set, getting back-to-back kills by middle blocker Jerry Wu to even the match up at one game a piece.

A pivotal third set see-sawed back and forth from the outset, though the Tigers did enjoy a short-lived 4-point spread following a Wu kill at 13-9. As the set wore along with neither team extending to more than a pair of points ahead, it was Kalaheo with the first chance at set point, but a Devin Lee to Brandon Walker set and spike tied the score once again.

One the next serve, it was Walker again, this time showing off the block, as he turned back a Kalaheo spike attempt up the middle to give the Tigers its first crack at set three.

A costly McKinley service error tied the score once again at 26, which put Owens back at the serve line, where his timely ace brought the Stangs a second shot at a set win, and on the ensuing point, a Tigers' kill attempt sailed wide to end the third, 28-26, much to the delight of a visibly pumped-up Kalaheo squad.

"The energy is definitely important for us," said Owens. "If we (play) flat we can't really do anything, so it was a big factor for us."

Set number four saw yet another back-and-forth affair, and a bit of deja vu, as McKinley once again enjoyed a 13-9 lead as the biggest margin. Kalaheo answered right back to tie the score on a pair of jump serve aces off the arm of Tucker, led briefly at 15-14 on an Orcutt kill, but found themselves in danger of a deciding fifth set as the Tigers served for the match at 24-23.

The kill attempt on the set point one for McKinley sailed wide, and Kalaheo made sure the Tigers would not see another chance at the set, taking the lead on a pumped-up Owens' 13th kill, and then winning it on his fourth block.

"I really just tried to stay disciplined and not try to hard and reach over," said Owens on his block. "I really just tried to take away an area and stay there."

Setter Silila Tucker was sensational once again, dishing out 40 assists to go along with 2 kills, 7 digs and 5 aces.

"He's our heart and soul, he's our leader," said Harrison of Tucker. "He tried to keep a balanced attack no matter where we are and takes advantage of mismatches and he does that for us every game."

Harrison led Kalaheo with 17 kills, followed by Owens (13 kills, 4 blocks) and Orcutt (11 kills).

McKinley was paced by Wu's 22 kills and Walker's 13, while Lee added 41 assists and 11 digs in the loss.

Kalaheo will take on Kaiser, who outlasted Moanalua in four sets, for a spot in the OIA Red title game Thursday. The game is set for approximately 7:00 p.m. back at Student Council Gymnasium.