EAST LANSING — It may take a while for the pain to subside, but once it does, the Niles volleyball team will realize that what it accomplished this season was something special.

The No. 4-ranked Vikings had their history state tournament run end at East Lansing High School with a 3-2 loss to No. 3-ranked Lake Odessa-Lakewood Tuesday night.

Before a huge crowd of fans from both teams, the Lakewood Vikings rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat the Niles Vikings 25-17, 20-25, 21-25, 25-18 and 15-13.

The match was every bit as close as the score indicates.

Niles and Lake Odessa battled back and forth, delivering huge kills, dramatic digs and devastating serves along the way.

But in the end, the defending state runner-up had just enough left to rally for the victory and a spot in the semifinals against Livonia Ladywood at 4:30 p.m. Friday at the Battle Creek Kellogg Arena.

“I said play your hearts out,” Niles coach Jenny Nate said. “I said play for your school, play for your community, play for your families and play for each other. And that is what they did. That is all I could ask of them.”

Lakewood came out on fire and used a six-point run to turn a 13-13 tie into a 19-13 lead it would not relinquish.

Despite losing the opening set, Niles (41-9-4) rebounded to take the next two sets and move within one victory of the semifinals.

“We fell short the first set, but we bounced back in the second and third sets and came on strong with our blocks which helped us take them out of their game to control the runs,” Nate said. “Our defense did a great job reading their attacks and our hitters all came out swinging and putting the ball down.”

Senior Bella Rasler collected seven of her 28 kills in the second set. Niles also did a solid job of blocking the big front line of Lake Odessa, which included 6-foot-1 freshman Aubrey O’Gorman and seniors Breanna Wickerink, Lisa Hewitt and Alivia Benedict.

Niles jumped out early on Lake Odessa in the third set, leading 9-2 before having Lakewood rally to close the gap to 16-14 on a kill by Wickerink.

Rasler would record three kills from that point, including the winning point. Junior Abbie Harpenau, along with sophomores Taylor Bailey and Nikki Nate, also had kills to help put the set away.

Lake Odessa, which sported shirts emblazoned with “unfinished business,” regrouped for the fourth set and squared the match at 2-2 with a 25-18 victory.

Niles led 3-0 and 5-2 before Lakewood squared the set at 7-7 and then used a seven-point run to extend its lead from 9-7 to 16-8.

Niles would close to 17-12 with a block, but was unable to gain and more ground on Lake Odessa.

“During the fourth set, they pulled away from us, and we battled for the points but couldn’t quite close the gap,” Nate said.

Lake Odessa and Niles went back and forth in the fifth and deciding set with neither team able to pull away early.

With the set deadlocked at 4-4, Lakewood scored three straight points thanks to a pair of errors by Niles and a kill by Wickerink.

Niles responded to close the gap to 9-7, but a kill by Wickerink, another Niles error and a block by Hewitt made it 12-7.

Niles was not done just yet.

Rasler had a pair of kills and Lake Odessa had three consecutive errors to help Niles get right back in the set.

A block by sophomore Nikki Nate made it 13-12 and the final kill of the night for Rasler made it 14-13.

“The fifth set was a back and forth battle, but we fell short by two points,” Nate said. “I told my girls to keep their heads held high and to stay focused on all of their amazing accomplishments this season. I love this team and am so incredibly proud.

“They made history with their families, school and community cheering them on. The pictures of their district and regional championships will forever hang on the wall at Niles High School and that volleyball banner that hangs in the gym is now filled.”

Rasler, who earlier in the week signed a letter of intent to play at Grand Valley State University, finished her career with 28 kills, six points, seven blocks and 21 digs.

Senior Carly Barton finished with 40 assists, four points and five digs, while Nate had five kills, nine blocks, three digs and six points.

Senior Bre Love ended her career with 26 digs and three points.