Peter Caldwell | SL

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Peter Caldwell | SL

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Senior middle blockers Shiloh Peleras and Brooke Kaawa paved the way in Kamehameha's five-set state championship win over top-seeded Iolani at the Neal Blaisdell Center Saturday night.

The duo combined for 18 kills, three solo blocks and 10 block assists to help the Warriors claim their 20th state crown after a 27-25, 25-20, 12-25, 19-25, 15-12 victory in the title game of the New City Nissan/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Girls Volleyball Championships.

It was the first state title for Kamehameha since 2013. The Warriors lost to Punahou in four sets in the championship match a season ago.

"It was pretty awesome," said Peleras. "Last year we worked hard, but we didn't come away with the win so it felt pretty good to get it done."

Peleras and Kaawa's contributions helped open things up for the rest of the Warriors' hitters. Kayla Afoa had 11 kills, Kili Robins had 10 more and Lauren Condon and Ililani Kamaka had their best games of the tournament with nine and four kills respectively.

"I think we just had to do our job," said Peleras. "There was a lot of work that we had to put in to drag the blockers to the middle and we open a lot for our hitters."

Peleras, who is 5 feet and 10 inches, got it going early to help Kamehameha bounce back from a early deficits in game one. Iolani used a 5-0 run to jump to a 5-1 lead before Peleras pounded a kill down the middle for the Warriors' first earned point of the match. She also helped Kamehameha side out after Iolani took a 16-10 lead and combined with Kamaka for a block to tie the game at 24 apiece. Peleras finished the match with 10 kills, one solo block and seven block assists.

Kaawa scored most of her points on run outs to the pin. The 5-foot-11 senior helped fuel a 7-0 run in set two that gave Kamehameha a commanding 21-14 lead. She combined with Kamaka for a block on Iolani's Sierra Buscher, had a solo block on setter Bailey Choy and capped the run to force a timeout with a kill. Kaawa had eight kills, two solo blocks and three block assists when the night was over.

"We were very proud of our two senior middles," said Kamehameha coach Chris Blake. "When our middles are going its a great team win because everybody is contributing. Once our middles get going it makes our offense that much tougher to stop."