The Kaiser girls volleyball team was burning rubber at the start, got stuck in neutral, then found a way to get it back in gear and edge Castle.

It sure made for an exciting match.

Nikki Taylor had 21 kills and Madison Perdone added 19 as Kaiser beat Castle, 25-12, 25-17, 23-25, 19-25, 15-12, in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association White Conference tournament final yesterday at McKinley.

"After the first two sets, they kind of took things easy, they took things for granted. Did it the hard way," said Kaiser coach Ernest Noborikawa.

It was the Cougars' first OIA girls volleyball crown. The inaugural league champion was crowned in 1971.

"We can put a banner up in our gym and that's what our goal was," said Taylor, a 6-foot-2 freshman.

Kaiser, the East's No. 3 seed, improved to 15-3 overall and 4-0 in the double-elimination tournament. Castle, the East's No. 2 seed, dropped to 14-5 and 3-2.

Early on, Kaiser had few problems.

In the first set, the Cougars went on a 15-1 run, including 11 consecutive serves by Sarah Epstein, which made it 17-3.

In the second set, Kaiser went on a 14-4 run to take a 19-10 advantage.

The Knights pulled out the third by winning three of the final four points, including two kills by Joshell Lilio.

In the fourth, Castle went on a 13-6 set-ending run.

"We had to make sure our passing was there," said Castle coach Brannan Bajet. "We had to run faster plays, we had to move faster."

In the fifth set, Kaiser went on a mini 3-0 run to take a 12-9 lead. Castle got within 13-12, but kills by Taylor and Arianna Ondo won it for the Cougars.

Kaiser, Castle and Kailua will represent the OIA at next week's State Division II tournament.