High school volleyball: New Life Academy overcomes five match points but can’t get all the way back

In its lone prior state volleyball appearance, Fillmore Central finished second in 2013.

The 2024 Falcons still have a chance to top that.

Kyla Hellickson had three late kills and sixth-seeded Fillmore Central outlasted No. 3 New Life Academy 25-20, 25-18, 27-29, 20-25, 15-7 late Thursday in a Class 1A volleyball quarterfinal at Xcel Energy Center.

Madilyn Zwart led the Falcons with 13 kills, one more than Erin Dahly. Hannah Vaalemoen had 24 assists.

Located near the Iowa border in southeastern Minnesota, Fillmore Central (18-15) upset Mabel-Canton, ranked second in the final state poll, to get to St. Paul.

This time, it had to work extra to advance further.

Five times, New Life Academy was one point away from getting swept, yet the Eagles rallied to force a deciding fifth set.

But the Falcons jumped out a to a 6-3 lead, scored five straight points to make it 12-5, and after New Life Academy scored couple points, Hellickson scored on a kill and Aubrey Daniels had two service aces allowing Fillmore Central to exhale.

Its semifinal opponent will be No. 2 Minneota at 3 p.m. Friday. The Vikings swept Ely in their quarterfinal.

Playing in the tournament for the third straight year, the Eagles (17-13) got 22 kills from Marisa Michaelis and 11 from Makenna Lilly while Ella Borner had a match-high 29 assists. New Life Academy finished third last season.

Five times in the third set, New Life Academy was one point away from getting swept.

An 8-1 run gave the Falcons an 11-3 lead, but the Eagles slowly clawed their way back into and tied the set 20-all on a kill by Lilly.

Fillmore Central led 24-22, 25-24, 26-25, 27-26 in the set. But the Eagles wouldn’t go away, scoring the final three points on a pair of kills by Michaelis sandwiched around one by Jada Mitchell.

Set 4 saw New Life Academy charge out to a 13-4 lead and add a late 7-3 run to tie the match.

A 7-1 run paced the Falcons to a win in set one. An early 13-3 surge in set two gave Fillmore Central a 2-0 lead.