Castle's third overall Oahu Interscholastic Association title was a little sweeter this time around as the Knights dedicated their season in memory of late assistant coach Danell Yanagida.

Yanagida, who was fondly remembered to as "Coach Nell," passed away from a heart attack last October on the day before Castle's last girls volleyball game. She was a longtime assistant of the Knights' volleyball program and was an educational assistant for a special education classroom at the school.

"That's why I was crying, it means a lot," said 32-year coach Pat Gomes-Woolsey. "She was with me for almost 20 years. She was with me when she was a freshman in high school and she was 33 when she passed away."

Gomes-Woolsey also said that Yanagida was in line to take over the boys volleyball program when Gomes-Woolsey was ready to hand over the reins.

"This is the first season I've been without her, and it was really difficult because I was passing everything to her," she said. "She was going to take over the program and I was just going to be the assistant and help them."

While her final days came as a shock to everyone, Gomes-Woolsey said that Yanagida spent it in support of the girls' volleyball program.

"I think she worked too hard, she does everything for the kids," she said. "We had senior night and she does everything. She makes all the pictures, the banners, the programs and she coaches the junior varsity and with me. I think she overworked herself and didn't take care of herself because everything is for the kids."

The Knights drew on Yanagida's memory while in a dire situation in a critical third set. Castle trailed 22-18, but rattled six straight points for a 24-22 advantage that led to a 26-24 win.

"I told my team, ‘let's do this, let's end it and let's do this for Coach Nell,'" said David Benevedes, who had five kills, two solo blocks and five block assists. "Coach Nell is one of our coaches that past away this past year and it's a blessing to win this for her."

"Hopefully she's up there with the rest of our other alumni that passed away too," added Gomes-Woolsey. "Hopefully they were up there cheering for us, and I think we had a little bit of help from them because I don't think we did that great. I think we had a little extra help so they had a seventh person with them on the court."