They fluttered at times, but in the end, the Hawaii Baptist Eagles soared to another crown.

Sarah Palmer pounded 34 kills and Hawaii Baptist rallied from a 12-10 deficit in the final set for a thrilling 26-28, 25-19, 25-27, 25-21, 15-13 victory over Word of Life last night in the final of the New City Nissan/HHSAA Girls Volleyball Division II State Championships at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The epic match took 2 hours, 35 minutes to complete.

“;This was the last game for our seniors. We wanted to make them proud,”; said Palmer, a junior, who also had 17 digs.

Down 12-10, HBA got gifts from the Firebrands in the form of serving and hitting errors. After Palmer's ace and a kill by Word of Life's Crystal Powell, the set was tied at 13-all. That's when Palmer crushed a kill over the middle, then delivered a perfectly timed tip over a double block on the left side for match point.

In what will probably rank as the most evenly played title battle for years to come, it seemed that Word of Life and coach Lee Ann Satele were destined to claim their first state championship. The powerful hitting of Kainoa Ocasek (17 kills and 23 digs) and Powell (23 kills, 25 digs), and the precise setting of Phoibe Fetu (41 assists, 21 digs) had the Firebrands playing their best volleyball of the season.

However, Palmer was tireless, piercing the Firebrand defense from everywhere on the court. C'era Oliveira (14 kills), Taryn Bohan, Leinaala Mussel and Brianna Lovett came up with key kills later in the match, and the setting tandem of Kayla Kawamura (26 assists) and Chelsie Mow (18 assists) delivered in the clutch.

HBA (19-2) captured its second state title in a row since being permitted to move down to Division II by the Interscholastic League of Honolulu. The Eagles entered the tourney as the top seed and were ranked No. 4 in the Star-Bulletin Girls Volleyball Top 10.

Word of Life (14-7) had its highest finish ever in the state tourney. Ranked eighth in the Top 10, they were third in the state tourney last season.

“;It's bittersweet (to lose), but I see their maturity and growth,”; Satele said. “;This kind of fight and fire is what they'll carry the rest of their lives.”;

The key point was in the third set with Word of Life ahead 22-12. Though WLA went on to win the set, HBA's big rally set the tone for the comeback in sets 4 and 5.

“;We wanted to win that game. Just come back one point at a time,”; HBA coach Myles Shioji said. “;Word of Life has real powerful girls and we tried to throw them off rhythm a little. That's when we finally started to play to our potential.”;

The Firebrands lost twice during the ILH season to the Eagles—swept both times. Even in preseason, HBA won both sets in pool play over WLA during the Ann Kang Invitational.