In a state championship atmosphere — and possible state title match preview — Kamehameha swept 'Iolani, 25-22, 27-25, last night to win its third straight Interscholastic League of Honolulu girls volleyball crown.

The two-time defending state champion Warriors, ranked No. 1 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll of coaches and media and No. 7 in the nation by www.prepvolleyball.com, improved to 41-2 overall and 17-1 in the ILH. They will receive the league's top seed and first-round bye in next week's state tournament in Hilo.

'Iolani, ranked No. 2 by The Advertiser and No. 23 by prepvolleyball.com, fell to 28-5-1 and 16-2. The Raiders will begin state tournament play in the first round Oct. 31.

A screaming sellout crowd of about 1,100 at 'Iolani watched reigning two-time Advertiser State Player of the Year Kanani Herring notch a match-high 15 kills, including match point, to lead Kamehameha.

The Warriors finished the match with three straight points, starting when the Raiders' serve at 25-24 landed wide right.

"This is heart-warming, because it's my senior year and last (ILH title)," said Herring, who has made a verbal commitment to play for the University of Hawai'i next season. "When that serve went out, we said, 'OK, here's our next chance, let's do it now, don't let them back in it.' Because 'Iolani was ready."

The Raiders had upset the visiting Warriors in three games last month, before a heavily partisan crowd of about 700, including the school's stage band. That victory propelled 'Iolani to an unbeaten regular season first round.

But Kamehameha forced last night's winner-take-all match by sweeping the Raiders last Saturday in the second round tournament final before its own raucous home crowd of about 800. The Warriors brought their own band and cheerleaders with them last night, along with a couple hundred fans who did their best to nullify 'Iolani's home court advantage.

"They helped us a lot," Herring said. "That was the most people I've ever seen for high school volleyball, except for the state tournament. All we could do was play for them."

The match certainly lived up to the hype, as neither team led by more than four points in either game.

Kamehameha was up 14-10 in the first game, but 'Iolani rallied and took the lead for the first time at 17-16. Herring and Bekah Torres led the Warriors on a 6-2 run to make it 24-20, but the Raiders fought back with Leinani Keanini's crosscourt kill and Mahina Haina's block on Herring to cut it to 24-22 before an error ended it.

'Iolani took a 12-8 lead in the second game, but aces by Torres, Jordan Meredith and Caitlin Andrade plus kills by Herring and Alex Akana helped Kamehameha rally with a 10-3 run to make it 18-15. A line shot by Herring gave the Warriors game point at 24-22, but an error, a block by Haina and Keanini's kill gave the Raiders a 25-24 lead.

But their next serve for game point swerved and fell wide right, and another error set up match point for Herring, who landed a kill from the back row.

"We were trying to serve their hitter, Jordan; we tried to serve deep and back her up," 'Iolani coach Jenic Tumaneng said. "It's hard luck for us that (the serve) turned out that way."

The Raiders had only two other serving errors the entire match.

"We'll take it," said Kamehameha coach Chris Blake, who had called a timeout immediately before the last errant serve. "Whether a point is hard-fought or easy, we'll take it. But our girls had a confident look on their faces during the timeout. They showed they can all play tough and draw together when they're pushed to the limit.

"We settled down and got the points when we needed to."

Despite the loss, Tumaneng said he is happy with the way his team fought back, as well. Especially after facing match point at 24-22 and then gaining match point three serves later.

"That's where I'm OK with it," Tumaneng said. "In a 25-point game, there's only so much room to come back, and we did it several times. I'm proud of our girls."

Herring scored many of her 15 kills on her trademark powerful rocket spikes, but also added in several tips and off-speed shots that landed in strategic areas.

" 'Iolani is a big team, especially compared to teams they've had in the past," said Blake, a former Raiders assistant. "We had to make adjustments, and Kanani played smart and executed those changes."

Torres added eight kills for the Warriors.

Keanini led 'Iolani with seven kills, and Lauren Minkel added five kills.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.