LAHAINA — The Baldwin High School girls volleyball team checked one big box on its to-do list Thursday night at Lahainaluna gym.

The Bears clinched a state tournament berth with the Maui Interscholastic League Division I regular-season title after a 25-15, 25-16, 25-19 sweep of the depleted Lunas.

“It’s an enormous step, that’s one of our goals coming into the season,” Baldwin coach Al Paschoal said after his team improved to 9-0. “You never know coming out of COVID exactly what you’re going to be looking at, so you have to put something up on the board and that’s definitely one of the big ones we had up on the board.”

The Bears went on a 7-0 run behind the serving of Natronai Anana to take a 12-9 lead in the first set. The Lunas tied it at 13-13 on a block by Hailey Killett, but the Bears dominated from there, finishing the set on a 7-0 run behind the serving of Kaysha Tanaka.

Tanaka had back-to-back aces to make it 22-15, and Faith Alvior finished the set on a resounding kill.

Baldwin bounced out to a 7-1 lead in the second set before a kill in the middle by Killett slowed the momentum. The Lunas climbed within 14-13 before the Bears went on an 8-1 run to take a 22-14 lead.

Baldwin ended the set on a Lahainaluna hitting error.

A dink followed immediately by a Killett kill made it 5-0 Lunas in the third set. An ace by Jasmine Mathias made it 6-0 and brought a timeout from Paschoal.

Lahainaluna’s lead grew to 12-3, but the Bears climbed within 15-12 after a run capped by an ace by Amanda Naipo.

An Alvior kill tied it at 18, and the teams remained close until a Lunas error and a kill by Ku’ulei Manaois gave the Bears a 21-19 lead.

Baldwin’s Monique Pante followed with an ace, and the match ended on another Pante ace.

The Bears were led by Tanaka’s eight aces and 18 digs. Lilinoe Paschoal dished out 34 assists to go along with two kills and two aces, Naipo had seven kills, two aces and eight digs, Manaois had eight kills, an ace and a block, and Alvior had 10 kills.

“Very proud, very proud of this group,” Al Paschoal said. “They worked hard tonight.”

Killett finished with eight kills and three digs to lead the Lunas. Keana Medeiros-Sodetani had three kills, and Malika Viela added two.

The Bears are 27-1 in sets this season.

“Baldwin is a tough team, they really are,” Lahainaluna coach Trixy Nuesca-Ganer said. “They deserve every bit, they work hard.”

The Lunas were missing starters Kalolaine Pasikala and Kailani Medeiros-Sodetani due to injuries suffered in Tuesday’s win over Kamehameha Maui. Lahainaluna is 5-4 with three matches left before the MIL tournament, where the league’s second state berth will be largely decided.

“These last three matches are very important so we can sit second going into the tournament, so we don’t have to fight,” Nuesca-Ganer said. “We competed tonight. I’m very proud of my girls.”

Also on Thursday night, Kamehameha Maui outlasted Maui High 22-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 15-12 in Kahului.

Lilinoe Medeiros led the Warriors (4-5) with eight kills to go with nine digs and three aces. Leilani Gates and Haven De Silva each added seven kills, Hi’ilei Fuqua and Jacqui Brandon both had six kills, Ka’ena Cervantes posted 20 digs, Haylee Pruse had 15 digs and two aces, and Kayla Frias had 13 digs and four aces.

The Sabers fell to 4-5.

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.

MIL Standings

DIVISION I

W L Pct. GB

x-Baldwin 9 0 1.000 —

Lahainaluna 5 4 .556 4

Kamehameha Maui 4 5 .444 5

Maui High 4 5 .444 5

King Kekaulike 0 8 .000 8 1⁄2

DIVISION II

W L Pct. GB

Seabury Hall 6 0 1.000 —

Hana 7 1 .875 —

Molokai 5 3 .625 2

Maui Prep 1 5 .167 5

Lanai 0 4 .000 5

St. Anthony 0 6 .000 6

x-clinched regular-season championship

Thursday’s Results

Kamehameha Maui def. Maui High 22-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 15-12

Baldwin def. Lahainaluna 25-15, 25-16, 25-19

Today’s Matches

Maui Prep at Seabury Hall, 6:30 p.m.

St. Anthony at Lanai, 7 p.m.