By the end, one team was still revved up and the other was out of gas.

Chandler Kaaa pounded 20 kills as Kamehameha-Hawaii rallied for a 25-21, 12-25, 24-26, 25-17, 15-10 win over Mililani in the opening round of the HHSAA Boys Volleyball State Championships at McKinley Student Council Gym yesterday.

Mililani (12-4) played near-flawless volleyball in Sets 2 and 3 to take command, but couldn't keep up with the visitors from the Big Island.

Keoni Bailado added 11 kills and nine digs, and Lopaka Woolsey had nine kills (.333). Kaahu Leite-Ah Yo dished 44 assists and had eight digs for KS-Hawaii (12-3). Mason Waugh tallied a team-high 13 digs.

“;We've had our ups and downs, but it's more mental,”; Kaaa said. “;We just need to be in the right spot at the right time.”;

Woolsey had three kills and a block in the final set.

“;It's a fire we bring and we found it in the later sets,”; said Woolsey, a 5-foot-10 senior with a 34-inch vertical leap.

The Warriors will meet Kamehameha-Maui today at 5 p.m. at McKinley in a quarterfinal match.

Reid Pangelinan led Mililani with 20 kills. Andrew Longboy and Bronson Sagon added eight kills each, and Joshua Lenchanko had seven. Sagon led the Trojans with 16 digs.

The Warriors attacked Pangelinan, a powerful 6-5 senior, later in the match.

“;We were trying to tire Reid out, keep serving him and make him move,”; Leite-Ah Yo said.

The tactic worked. KS-Hawaii seized control midway through the fourth set with a 10-5 run. Bailado set up on the other side from Kaaa and found openings in Mililani's defense.

By the end of the fourth, Kaaa (6-4) was sharing sets with Leite-Ah Yo (6-2) and the Warrior soffense was tough to read. Woolsey spiked two kills and an ace to help KS-Hawaii close out the fourth set.

The fifth set was tied at 4 before the Warriors went on an 8-2 run against the tiring Trojans. Daniel Aina (six kills) had a couple of key points and Mililani's hitting errors mounted. A kill by Kenton Soares helped the Trojans pull within 13-10, but they got no closer.

“;It's been going like that the whole season, so inconsistent,”; Mililani coach John Ing said. “;We just drop when we're in that mode, not motivated. It's really hard to see the kids not play with passion. That's what makes it worse — we're that close. (KS-Hawaii) always brings their game. They have great talent up there. Their passion and joy, you can see it on the court.”;

KS-Hawaii hit .204, while Mililani hit .154. The Warriors overcame 16 service errors. Aina had four of his team's nine aces.

“;We've been up and down all season,”; Warriors assistant coach Sam Thomas said. “;In those second and third sets, we had a lack of passion. We had to do a pep talk, kind of.”;

Leite-Ah Yo thinks his team can go much farther.

“;Once we fix the little things, we can take it all,”; the senior said.