Kamehameha sophomore Maluhia Maa puts down a kill past Iolani's Kristen McDaniel in the second set of the Division I title game. Crizalmer Caraang Jr. | SL

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Maluhia Maa was the spark Kamehameha needed Saturday night.

The sophomore outside hitter came off the bench to post eight kills and helped lift the Warriors to their record 21st title with a sweep of defending champion Iolani in the finals of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Division I Girls Volleyball State Championships.

With her team trailing by eight points midway through the second set, Maa was thrust into action — and made an immediate impact.

The 6-foot-1 Maa put down three quick kills — all from the left side — that was part of a 4-0 run to pull Kamehameha within 16-12. Iolani's scored back-to-back points off hitting errors by Maa, but she came back with two more kills within the next four points.

The Warriors eventually pulled ahead 21-20 and went on to score four of the final five points of the set to steal it, 25-22.

"We just had to focus in and we kept coming in as a circle and breathing — because that's part of our process — and Maluhia Maa did really good coming off the bench," said junior Braelyn Akana, who finished with a team-high nine kills. "I give her a lot of credit for that. She did really good coming off the bench."

After watching game 1 from the bench, Maa found herself leading her team in kills after game 2.

"She did great. She definitely came in clutch and she got us a bunch of kills when we needed them," said junior setter Lexis Akeo, who finished with 35 assists and 11 digs and was named the tournament's most outstanding player.

Maa was just as important in game three, where she put down three more kills and recorded all three of her digs. Her lone block — when she teamed with Akana on championship point No. 7 for Kamehameha — gave her team its first state title since 2015.

"We saw the ball going to the outside, so me and (Maa) were waiting and we got up and it went down," said Akana, who was also named to the all-tournament team. "She pressed really hard, we were both pressing. We were convincing ourselves that this would be the last point, so when we got that block we just turned and our team was there for us."

Despite the sweep, Kamehameha coach Chris Blake said the victory was hardly easy to come by — especially given the fact that it was the fifth time his team was playing Iolani this season.

"I think the way the process works — they've seen us, we've seen them — and it showed up because in games two and three they definitely got us on a bunch of blocks, too, so once things began to settle down it came down to doing a little wrinkles of what we did," Blake said. "They did a few things differently, it took us a while to adjust. We tried to implement some things that they adjusted really well, but it came down to execution right at the end and a couple of switches — Malu and Brae had a nice big block when it mattered — and that was a big one for us."

The set 2 rally was certainly a turning point for the Warriors, Blake said.

"In the second set they ran out to that big run. We were talking about our process and sticking to our process, sticking together as a team and we were able to grind out that game two win and we took that into game three, but what we saw was there's nothing but fight in those Raiders," said Blake, who applauded Iolani for its effort.

"They're a very talented team, they're very well coached. Coach Kainoa (Obrey) and his staff do a lot of great things. It came down to end game and we're very proud of our kids for executing all those match points, fighting things off and pulling off that W in the end. It was a great W for our team."

While the Raiders relied heavily on their duo of Saige Kaahaaina-Torres (16 kills, 11 digs) and Elena Oglivie (18 kills, 20 digs), Kamehameha utilized its depth to keep Iolani's blockers honest.

Seven different players had at least two kills for the Warriors, with Akana (9 kills), Maa (8) and Kili Robins (8) leading the way.

"I think it comes down to, again, because of our talent and our ability, I think Lexis set an excellent match and we were totally able to execute to do the little things in order to make those things happen, but again we believe the strength of our team is the team," Blake said.

Akeo passed the credit along to her passers.

"Everybody is amazing. The defense was great, the serve-receive was great and that's how I was able to spread the ball to the amazing hitters," Akeo said.

Libero Kealani Ontai, another all-tournament team selection, finished with a match-high 26 digs to lead five plays in double-digit digs.

Kamehameha's effectiveness at the net early on — it recorded seven of its 10 team blocks in game 1 — played a part into 34 hitting errors by the Raiders, who hit just .023 for the match.

"Absolutely. We had to try to move it around, do some different things with it and it forced us into tough choices maybe, but again it's what their defense does in the back row and then obviously the front row played a big spot for them this year," Obrey said. "It was a tough one. They did things that took us out of our system and credit to them, they played a great match."

The Warriors (13-2), who were playing in their 15th consecutive state finals match, will lose five seniors to graduation — including starters Ontai and Robins — but will return a wealth of talent, including Akeo, a University of Pittsburgh-commit and the likely All-Hawaii Player of the Year.

Iolani's lone graduating senior is Kaahaaina-Torres, who is committed to the University of Missouri and is the reigning All-Hawaii Player of the Year.

Four of the Raiders (9-8) losses this season came at the hands of Kamehameha.