BOISE – The Hillcrest volleyball team is into the championship round of the 5A state tournament after defeating Middleton in five sets on Friday, 25-12, 25-27,19-25, 25-13, 15-9.

The top-seeded Knights (27-6) will face Lakeland at 11 a.m. with the winner earning a berth in the championship match.

The loser is still alive in the double-elimination tournament, but will have to wait for an opponent to come through the other side of the bracket.

The Knights got all they could ask for in Friday’s match as Middleton won a close second set and then cruised through the third.

But the Knights looked like a No. 1 seed in the fourth set, rolling out to a 19-9 lead.

They led early in the fifth and deciding set on the way to the win.

“The kids just refused to lose,” Hillcrest coach Dallas Gines s

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