The Punahou boys volleyball team continued its dominance, winning its second straight state title — and 27th overall — last night.

Punahou defeated Iolani, 21-25, 25-14, 25-18, at the HHSAA/NewCityNissan.com Boys Division I Volleyball State Championships last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"There's a lot of pride going into it," said Punahou senior middle hitter and team co-captain Kealii Frank, who had nine kills and five blocks.

Punahou has beaten Iolani, the only team to push it to three games this season, all three times they have faced each other.

Down 15-13 in game 1, the Raiders outscored the Buffanblu 8-2, behind three blocks by senior outside hitter/setter Kawika Shoji, to give them a 21-17 advantage.

Punahou junior outside hitter Spencer McLachlin had consecutive kills to make it 22-20, but a service error by Punahou gave Iolani its 23rd point. Raiders senior middle blocker Joshua Starbuck had a solo block, and after another McLachlin kill, Starbuck guided down the game's final kill.

"They came out with a different lineup and it totally threw us off," McLachlin said. "It's hard to block when you don't know who you're supposed to block."

Punahou has only dropped two games this season, both to Iolani.

"I think losing the first game was one of the best things to happen to us," junior setter Riley McKibbin said. "We had to go back to the basics and have fun, and that's what we did in games 2 and 3, and we were great after that."

Punahou coach Peter Balding said game 1, "was as good a game as I've seen in a long time. They had our number big time."

He said assistant coach Rick Tune made adjustments during the break between games 1 and 2.

Punahou ran off six straight points for an 11-5 lead early in game 2 behind McLachlin's serving — he had two aces in the run.

"It was a combination of things that made me mad," McLachlin said. "And I just put all that mad energy into my jump serves."

McKibbin extended the team's lead to 21-11 on his first ace, and his second made it 23-11.

"The balls were dropping, and they were shanking them left and right," said McKibbin, who dished out 36 assists. "(Our serves) helped us get a lead."

Punahou senior outside hitter Will Ehrman's kill glanced off an Iolani player as the Buffanblu forced a game 3.

The Buffanblu jumped out to a 7-2 lead to start game 3, again with McLachlin serving. Punahou maintained its five-point lead, and extended it on a 6-1 run for a 21-12 advantage. With Shoji serving, Iolani came within 22-17, but a kill by senior Matthew Brown and an Iolani hitting error gave Punahou match point, which McLachlin put down.

"Punahou is a great team," Shoji said. "They made a few adjustments and our team didn't respond as well as we'd hoped for."

For the match, Punahou hit .253 and Iolani hit .065. McLachlin had a match-high 14 kills, with three blocks. Shoji had eight kills to lead the Raiders. Iolani sophomore outside hitter Bradley Lawson added seven kills.

"It's very hard to beat them 2 out of 3 games," Iolani coach Mike Among said. "I was surprised in game 1, they actually looked rattled. Once they figured us out, you could see that look return to their eyes."

THIRD PLACE

KALAHEO def. KAHUKU: Senior outside hitters Mana Guerreiro had 16 kills and David Elias added 11 to lead the OIA champion Mustangs over league rival Kahuku, 25-23, 16-25, 25-18. Senior outside hitters Junior Ale had 15 kills and Charles Bell 14 for the Red Raiders.

FIFTH PLACE

KAMEHAMEHA-HAWAI'I DEF. MOLOKA'I: Senior outside hitter Jacob Naki had eight kills and the Warriors of the BIIF used all 14 of their players in a 25-22, 25-22 victory over the Farmers of the MIL. Senior Chas Keola Albino had nine kills to lead the Farmers.

SEVENTH PLACE

RADFORD DEF. CASTLE: Glen Klaiber, a senior middle blocker, had 15 kills to lead the Rams past the Knights, 24-26, 25-18, 25-23, in a match between two OIA teams. Senior Kealii Bertlemann led Castle with nine kills.

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.