Word of Life picked the wrong night to play one of its best matches of the season.

Top-ranked Kamehameha just wasn't having any of it. The Warriors hit .375 and used a balanced attack to sweep the seventh-ranked Firebrands 25-17, 25-17 last night before 400 fans at Kekuhaupio Gym.

The Warriors improved to 12-1 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu thanks to solid hitting from Taylor Akana and Whitney Viveiros. Akana put down eight kills (.467) and Viveiros had seven (.267). The two had seven digs apiece.

“;Our girls played with fire. They persevered through the times when we weren't passing well,”; Kamehameha coach Chris Blake said. “;I've seen a lot of Word of Life. That's the best they've played. We had to play our best.”;

Word of Life dropped to 9-4 but remains one of the favorites to grab a Division II state-tournament berth.

“;I'm proud of them. They played their hearts out,”; Firebrands coach Lee Ann Satele said. “;You've got to be real. Kamehameha's got athletes. They're a strong team and we did our best. We won't see another team like this again.”;

The Warriors smothered the Firebrands at the net. Alex Akana finished with five kills and two blocks. The visitors hit .200 despite tweaking the lineup.

With outside hitter Alexis Villa out with an injury, Word of Life moved Crystal Powell from the middle to the left side.

“;We wanted to get the ball to her more,”; Satele said of Powell, who responded with a team-high six kills (.400).

Libero Lesli Akeo had a team-high eight digs and reserve Koala Matsuoka came through with an ace and some big digs down the stretch.

“;It's a good team win for us. Koala came in and got great digs that allowed us to get the ball in the system and let our hitters terminate,”; Blake said.

The Warriors showed no signs of letdown in winning their second match in a row since losing at home to Iolani on Saturday. Word of Life, which has size in the middle, seemed up to the challenge.

“;We played them in preseason,”; Viveiros said. “;They've improved by far. They were very strong tonight.”;

The visitors had a 4-2 lead to start the match, but Alex Akana pounded four kills and dropped in two aces during a 14-3 run by the Warriors.

Word of Life trailed by 10, but its raucous fans fired up their team. WLA pulled within 21-16 after a pair of kills by Powell and some Kamehameha miscues. The Warriors went on a 4-1 run, closing out the set with another ace by Alex Akana.

Kamehameha had no hitting errors in the first game and hit .462, but had five hitting mistakes in the second set. One of those errors helped Word of Life rally and tie the game at 12-all.

Leading 16-15, the Warriors got a kill by Viveiros, a block by Akana and an ace by Matsuoka to spark a 5-0 blitz. Word of Life got no closer than five the rest of the way. Digs by Taylor Akana and Matsuoka stifled the Firebrands' comeback effort.

The ILH's second round, or postseason tournament, will segregate the Division I schools from D-II. The high level of early-season, round-robin competition in the ILH - home to five of the state's top seven teams - works well for D-II powerhouses Word of Life and Hawaii Baptist when state tournament play begins.

“;We appreciate the Division I schools sticking with this schedule,”; Satele said.