Kamehameha's Pikake Laumauna gets set to put a kill attempt down against Kamehameha-Hawaii. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Kamehameha's Pomai Recca celebrates a point scored against Kamehameha-Hawaii. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Kamehameha's Pikake Laumauna gets set to put a kill attempt down against Kamehameha-Hawaii. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Kamehameha's Pomai Recca celebrates a point scored against Kamehameha-Hawaii. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Pikake Laumauna had nine of her match-high 13 kills in the third set and Kamehameha-Kapalama defeated Kamehameha-Maui, 25-15, 25-15, 25-20, in a quarterfinal of the New City Nissan Division I girls' volleyball tournament Tuesday night at Kaimuki High's gym.

Kapalama (14-3), Interscholastic League of Honolulu runner-up, will play Oahu Interscholastic Association champion and second-seeded Kahuku  in a semifinal, 7 p.m. Thursday at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium. The last time they faced was in a preseason scrimmage.

The Valley Isle Warriors (14-1) will play in a fifth-place semifinal against Pearl City, 7 p.m. Thursday at Kaimuki.

"It's a good step for us," KS-Kapalama coach Chris Blake said. "Kamehameha-Maui's a wonderful team. Coach Bala (Spencer) has them doing wonderful things. For us, it's a good stepping stone. It's the second step in the state tournament. We're lucky enough to get by in straight sets and work on a lot of things to make sure we're ready for tomorrow's match."

Kapalama's passing was efficient early, allowing it to set their shots. On the other side, it took KS-Maui a while to adjust to Kapalama's serving and hitting. The visitors had trouble passing in the first game, netting half their scoring on either service errors, violations or hitting errors. Kapalama snapped a 2-all set after service error by Maui. Sophomore Tiyana Hallums followed by serving five consecutive points and Kapalama never looked back.

"For us, the key is our defense," Blake said.

Maui tied the second set at 5 on a kill by Sienna Rae Davis, but Dawn Recca posted consecutive kills and an ace by Faith Maafala pulled Kapalama away again for another double-digit margin of victory.

The third set was a little tighter. Maui held its widest margin of the match at 3-1, only to see that disappear quickly after a service errors. With Hallums serving, Kapalama reeled off three consecutive points on a double-block from Recca and Maafala, a kill and block by Laumauna to make it 5-3.

Maui managed to pull to within 12-11 at one juncture, but a kill by Hallums kept Maui at bay by no less than a two-point margin the rest of the way. Laumauna had six kills to account for Kapalama's last 12 points.

"We had our opportunities, but we just didn't capitalize on them," KS-Maui coach Bala Spencer said. "We thought we could take advantage of something that we saw. They're a pretty good team. They're fast and make adjustments pretty well."