Mililani's biggest problems this season have been playing complete matches and overcoming adversity.

Baldwin put a scare into the Trojans, but Mililani answered the challenge, getting a match-high 20 kills from Candace Soares to help defeat the Bears 25-18, 24-26, 25-15, 25-12 last night in the first round of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Girls Volleyball Division I State Championships at McKinley.

“;We've stressed finishing the game the way we started,”; said senior outside hitter Nalani I, who added 10 kills and 12 digs. “;Play hard from start to end.”;

The Trojans (12-5) have shown they can hang with anybody in the state, but have dropped a couple of matches in which they had big leads, including a five-set loss to Farrington after taking a 2-0 advantage.

Mililani wound up fourth in the Oahu Interscholastic Association tournament after losing to the Govs, and spent the last week working on being able to respond to difficult situations it expects to see in states.

“;They learned how much more mentally tough they need to be,”; Mililani coach Val Crabbe said. “;This is all a mental game and we've spent the last week focused on that.”;

After racing out to a quick 1-0 lead, the Trojans let Baldwin back into the match with nine hitting errors in the second set they eventually lost.

Tied 1-1, the Bears got as close as 18-15 in Set 3 before Soares put down a kill to ignite a 7-0 run as the Trojans closed it out in dominant fashion to get momentum back on their side.

“;Once you lose that run, it's kind of hard to come back,”; Baldwin coach Kaulia Houpo said. “;(Mililani) is tough. You have to bring your 'A' game—otherwise it's going to be hard.”;

Mililani hit only .172 for the match, but nearly doubled that percentage (.321) in the crucial third set. Soares had six kills and Mililani had three blocks on the final eight points.

“;I was very happy (with the third set),”; Crabbe said. “;Sometimes we get in trouble when a couple of players try to do too much. A couple of them need to get pumped up, but sometimes the rest need to calm down.”;

The Bears had no answer in the fourth set, hitting negative. Nicole Namoca had two of her five aces on the game-winning 7-0 run and Soares finished it with her 20th kill.

Tupusa Satele had a team-high 16 kills and Kalei Vaivai had 11 digs and 11 assists for Baldwin, which will face McKinley in a consolation game today at 3:30 p.m.

Mililani advances to today's quarterfinal match against second-seeded Kahuku at 5 p.m. at McKinley. The Red Raiders went undefeated through the OIA regular season and tournament.

Punahou 3, McKinley 0

Buffanblu senior Anuhea Keanini hammered a match-high 16 kills and added 15 assists and six digs in a 25-14, 25-18, 25-21 sweep of the Tigers.

Punahou advances to tonight's quarterfinal match at McKinley against third-seeded Waiakea at 7.

Shar Manu-Olevao added 10 kills and libero Courtney Lelepali led the way with 13 digs as the Buffanblu (17-3) hit .293 for the match.

Lita Melino's eight kills paced McKinley (11-8), which got 18 assists from setter Ashley Gravely and 13 digs by Juri Franzen.