On Friday night, following a historic 25-18, 25-18, 12-25, 25-18 victory over Waipahu in the HHSAA Division II girls volleyball championship match, Seabury Hall head coach Lecca Roberts put her hands on her head in disbelief.
The Spartans won their first HHSAA girls volleyball title in school history on Friday, a first for the entire island of Maui. Though Moloka‘i won as Maui Interscholastic League representatives in 2010, no team based in the Valley Isle had ever won a state tournament in volleyball prior to the Spartans doing so at the Stan Sheriff Center on Friday evening.
Roberts, a 2004 Seabury Hall alumna, was a former all-state middle blocker for the Spartans as a player. In her third year as head coach for her alma mater, she finally got the school over the hump.
"As an alum, as someone that tried to do that, and other alums also tried to do that, we often joke and say, 'Don't be us.' Like, don't be endlessly searching for this," Roberts joked after the match. "But I think it also gave us that space of knowing how hard you have to work to earn it. So, it's really cool to see a group of girls come together and put their mind to a goal and sacrifice their bodies, their hearts, all of it to take a risk and take a leap of faith and believe in themselves and do it, and they did. It's pretty freaking cool."
Seabury Hall appeared to be in cruise control following the first two sets on Friday night, but a scrappy Waipahu team blitzed the Spartans to take the third.
Behind Milaniakai Padilla's match-high 21 kills and 12 digs, the Spartans settled down and took the fourth set, placing the cherry on top of a storybook season in which they went a combined 19-0 in MIL and HHSAA play.
"Even prior to this match, all week from Maui, all the teams have been supporting us, and we've created a culture in Maui where we support each other, and we know that lifting Maui's volleyball up across the board and creating more competition for us is only going to help Maui, and that's our goal — to make Maui's volleyball better, and I think we're doing that, so that's pretty freaking cool," Roberts said. "And we felt the love, man, we felt it, so that was awesome.
"I still sort of feel like I'm living in the twilight zone. I don't think it really is hitting yet. It has probably, but no, I think it'll hit again and again, probably for a while. I think the best part is that [the players] get to remember this forever. This is part of their story."
Kamehameha's girls volleyball team dethroned defending Division I state champion ‘Iolani on Friday night. Photo by Christian Shimabuku (Aloha State Daily Staff) 
Seabury Hall coach Lecca Roberts celebrated the team's state title on Friday night. Photo by Christian Shimabuku (Aloha State Daily Staff) 
Seabury Hall celebrates match point on Friday night. Photo by Christian Shimabuku (Aloha State Daily Staff) 
Seabury Hall coach Lecca Roberts took in the moment on Friday night. Photo by Christian Shimabuku (Aloha State Daily Staff)
In the Division I title match, Kamehameha stunned ‘Iolani with a 20-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-17 victory.
‘Iolani, the defending state champions, entered Friday's match with a No. 9 national ranking by MaxPreps and went 5-1 against the Warriors in previous 2026 contests.
Defensively, the Warriors held ‘Iolani to a hitting percentage of .085, neutralizing an ‘Iolani attack led by setter Taimane Ainu‘u, a Texas commit considered a top five national recruit in the class of 2028. Ainu‘u had a match-high 38 assists, but 15 Kamehameha team blocks kept the ‘Iolani offense at bay.
‘Iolani comfortably took the first set, and after Kamehameha took the second set after it went to deuce, the Warriors raced to a 7-2 lead in the third set, only to see ‘Iolani go on a 7-0 run. From there, the Warriors composed themselves and pulled away from the Raiders.
For Kamehameha, a balanced team effort, led by double-doubles from Madison-Rose Marsh [12 kills, 12 digs] and Emilynn Won [10 kills, 13 digs] delivered the school its third state championship in four years.
"We're proud," Kamehameha head coach Chris Blake told Aloha State Daily following the match. "The training and the trials that we've had over the course of this season led us to this point. A team like ‘Iolani is an exceptional team, one of the top teams in the nation, and they pushed us in order to get better every single day. ... It was a great team win for us. So proud of everybody, the seniors, the staff, and being able to bring one home, bring the Koa [trophy] back home...this is a great testament to all the work that they've done."
Under Blake, the Warriors have established themselves as the dominant force in Hawai‘i high school girls volleyball, especially during the championship hunt. Since 2005, Kamehameha has 14 girls state volleyball titles with Blake at the helm. Where would Blake rank the 2026 title among the others?
"It's the most recent one, so it's right there," he said. "But for us to be battling right there and to come out like this, I think we're very honored and honored to be a part of this situation. Very proud of the girls and what they did."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
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