The treat of Lincoln Southeast's win against Millard West on Halloween turned into a sour trick in the rematch.

Following the Knights' sweep last Saturday, Millard West rallied for a 25-21, 14-25, 17-25, 25-22, 15-11 victory in the first round of the District A-2 Tournament at Lincoln Southwest on Wednesday.

Southeast coach Lindsay Burkey said it was a challenge to play the Wildcats twice in five days, especially with a matchup against No. 2 Papillion-La Vista South looming.

"When you are playing a one-night district and have to prepare for potentially two teams, you kind of maybe don't focus as much as the team you played Saturday," Burkey said. "It was a difficult situation that we were in."

Papillion-La Vista South, which swept Columbus in the other first-round match, defeated the Wildcats 25-20, 25-19, 25-21 in the championship to earn a berth in next week's state tournament.

In each set the 10th-ranked Knights lost, they held leads late. Southeast was ahead 16-8 in the first set before Millard West caught fire and rallied. Then in the fourth set, the Knights led 21-17, but the Wildcats closed with an 8-1 run to force the final set.

In the fifth set, the Wildcats led 10-6 before Southeast regrouped and tied the score at 11. However, the inability to finish again haunted the Knights (20-15) and hitting errors on three of the next four rallies sealed their fate.

"We played a little tentative and scared to make errors," Burkey said. "Because they had taken all the momentum and controlled the tempo of games four and five, we played on our heels instead of being the aggressor."

Southeast senior Haley Lake nearly recorded a triple-double, as she finished with 25 kills, 13 digs and eight blocks. Sophomore Scarlett Howerter added nine kills, while Logan Raymond had 39 set assists.

The second and third sets featured almost a completely different Southeast team. Hailey Holdsworth, who finished with 16 digs, led the charge as she served eight straight points in the second set for an 18-9 advantage. In the third set, the Knights scored nine of the final 13 points.

But as dominant as the Knights looked during those sets, they was just as shaky at the end of the fourth set, which led to their ultimate demise.

"(Millard West) played really great defense and they never gave up on a play," Burkey said. "We just relaxed and lost focus and didn't take care of the stuff on our side that we need to take care of."