By Journalism students Kayden W. and Joey W. Edited for clarity by New Life Academy.
In an intense and nail-biting five-set reverse sweep match versus four-seed Southwest Christian Academy, the undefeated five-seed, New Life Academy girls’ volleyball team advanced to the semi-finals and placed third in the 2025 Minnesota State Volleyball Tournament. While the girls’ underdog victory was hard-earned and well-deserved, the journey to get there was anything but easy. Thursday’s game started off with a close first set ending 22-25. The second set ended 16-25, leaving the New Life team and fans discouraged.
“You have nothing to lose when you’re down two sets,” explains junior captain Ryleigh Schaalhus. “We knew we had to go out there and give 100% no matter what happened,” Ryleigh continues. “Believing in each other and staying united was our mentality going into the third set.”
The girls gave Southwest Christian a much-needed wakeup call by clinching the third set 26-24. “Our blocking picked up in the third set, especially against their right-side hitter,” reflects Ryleigh. “Blocking gave us a lot of momentum to shut them down because we found the way to defeat their best offensive attack.”
The girls went on to defeat Southwest Christian again in the fourth set 25-21, sending the game into New Life’s second five-set match of their season. Southwest Christian held the lead during the entire fifth set, until the score was 8-13. New Life went on a six-point scoring streak and tied up the game at 14, forcing a win-by-two outcome. The girls pushed through and not only stole the fifth set, but the entire game in a 17-15, 3-2, reverse sweep victory.
“We started saying this little saying, ‘you can, you will,’” explains senior captain Marisa Michealis. “Truly believing in our team, the skills, and the work that we’ve put into practice pushed us to believe we could win against anybody. There are five sets for a reason, so we used all of them to our advantage and we came out with a win.”
The huge upset over fourth-seed Southwest Christian placed the girls in the semi-final game against number one-seed, the Hawley Nuggets. That game, unfortunately, did not go as the girls hoped for after losing all three sets. “This was definitely a hard loss for us, especially because our goal was to get to the championship,” explains Ryleigh Schelhaas on Friday. “But tomorrow we’re going to come back with lots of energy. We still have another game ahead of us, and we’re going to get the best we can now, which is third place.”
“Every team here is the best in the state, but it’s really just a mental game of who wants it more,” reflects Marisa Michealis. “I feel like we pushed back no matter what the score was, even if they were one point from winning. We stayed confident in our team, ourselves, and in our skills.”
New Life represented the smallest school in their bracket at the state tournament. Being moved up to class AA this year was intimidating, but it didn’t hold the girls back from accomplishing their goals for the season. The girls ended their season feeling joyful and proud of the team after earning third place in the tournament, marking their first time competing at the state level in class AA.
“I just hope over their time with me, they remember the things that we talked about every day as part of our program,” reflects Coach Dede Lawson. “Being joyful in what they do, intentional in whatever choices they make, to keep being kind, and just remember that they are more than just volleyball players. They belong to the Lord, and all they do, they serve the Lord.”
