Kaiser's Shaina Epstein elevates for a kill attempt against Campbell. Scott Nishi | SL

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Kaiser's Shaina Epstein elevates for a kill attempt against Campbell. Scott Nishi | SL

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MILILANI - It was a long bus ride to Mililani for the Kaiser Cougars. Longer than they anticipated.

Despite showing up for its match against Campbell just 20 minutes before the first serve, Kaiser rallied to win in five games in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Red Division Tournament second-round match Tuesday. The scores were 23-25, 23-25, 25-15, 25-12 and 15-10.

"We came out a little flat tonight and maybe it was the bus ride, but our girls showed a lot of heart coming back tonight," Cougars' head coach Ernest Noborikawa said. "We didn't have our normal 45-minute warm-up time, but the girls dug deep and pulled it out."

Outside hitter Haley Durham put down five kills with an ace and had a block in the decisive fifth set for the Cougars.

"We just knew we had to finish it," said Durham, whose first kill of game five ignited a 6-0 run for Kaiser. "It was ours to take, we just had to go get it and finish."

Durham sandwiched kills around an ace by Jolie Au, followed by back-to-back Campbell errors to make it 5-0. A block by Durham and Kayla Nihipali capped the run, but the Sabers answered by scoring three of the next four points to cut the deficit to 8-4. The Cougars went back to Durham on the next play and she slammed down a point along the right sideline before serving up an ace to force a Sabers' timeout.

Campbell closed to within four at 11-7 following a Kaiser error, but could get no closer. Nihipali put down a kill several plays later to make it 13-8 and after a four-contacts violation against the Cougars, Durham put away a cross-court kill to give her team match point. Shaina Epstein's kill two plays later ended the game, 15-10, and the match.

Campbell head coach Ala Iosefa credited Kaiser's defensive effort.

"We just wanted to keep the ball in play and play defense, but they was passing the ball well, they worked their offense and they played really well," Iosefa said.

Noborikawa said he challenged his team after dropped the opening set.

"It just came down to who wanted it more," Noborikawa said. "After that first game, I asked them 'OK, are you guys warmed up now? Are you ready to play?'"

The Sabers jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead in the first game, but the Cougars rallied to tie it at 19 following consecutive Campbell errors. The teams exchanged points to a 23-all tie, but Kaiser committed back-to-back hitting errors and Campbell won it, 25-23.

Kaiser led for most of game two, but Campbell reeled off four straight points to tie it at 14. Later in the game, a Campbell service error put Kaiser ahead, 21-20, but the Sabers scored five of the last six points to win the game, 25-23, and pulled ahead, two games to none.

"Coach told us that 'The game isn't over and we still have three more sets to go, finish it,'" Durham said. "We tried to be positive and believe that we could (come back)."

After an early tie at 5, game three was all Cougars. Kaiser built a 10-6 lead on Shannon Kim's ace, which forced a Sabers' timeout. Campbell had to use its second and final timeout of the game just six plays later as Durham gave Kaiser a 13-9 lead on her step-out kill. The Cougars used a 6-0 run to make the score, 16-9, and scored 10 of the last 11 points to lead, 20-10. Annika Rigterink closed out the game at 25-15 with an easy kill off a Campbell overpass.

Game four was more of the same as the Cougars led wire-to-wire. An ace by Haley Ross gave Kaiser a 10-4 and a 5-0 run midway through the game made it 18-8. Later in the game, Rigterink's kill found the end line and extended the lead to 24-11. Two plays later, Nihipali put away game point with a kill off a back set from Au to win, 25-12, and tie it at two games apiece.

Kaiser (11-1), who finished second in the Red East, advances to Wednesday's third round at McKinley, where it will meet Mililani. The Cougars and Trojans, who beat Castle in five games Tuesday, have earned two of six league berths into the HHSAA state tournament. Campbell (8-4), the Red West third seed, plays Castle in an elimination match Wednesday at Radford.