Empire spikes back

Lady Flames fall to Maryland and Furman University during Liberty Invitational

 

This past weekend, the Lady Flames volleyball team (1-5) hosted the Liberty Invitational where they lost to the Maryland Terrapins (6-0), the Furman Paladins (3-3), and the Elon Phoenix (4-3).

 

Liberty lost to Maryland 3-0 on Friday and then was also swept by Furman on Saturday.

 

Later Saturday evening, the Lady Flames lost to Elon in a hard-fought battle, 3-1.

 

It was a tough weekend for Liberty, but sophomore Anna Gragg said that playing in these tournaments is very beneficial for the team.

 

“I think it helps work out some of the kinks,” Gragg said.

 

“It shows us what we need to work on and it shows us the things we are developing and good at, so it is nice to have those before we get into the season.”

 

Senior outside hitter Gabrielle Vess also said these losses are tough, but she does not want them to define the rest of the season.

 

“It is hard, but we can either look at them (the losses) and be discouraged or we can look at them and see what we need to work on and build from there,” Vess said.

 

Looking toward the weekend, the final game against Elon seemed to have the most positives.

 

It was in this game that Liberty earned its first set win.

 

Liberty struggled with serving and gauging how strong or weak to attack the volleyball.

 

However, due to focus and teamwork, Liberty regained momentum.

 

Although the first half of the set was neck-and-neck, around the 17-point mark, Liberty pulled ahead.

 

Liberty scored seven unanswered points before Elon scored, but by that point it was too late for the Phoenix. Liberty won this first set 25-18.

 

Teamwork as well as team chemistry was displayed in this first set for the Lady Flames.

 

“I think the good thing about making team chemistry is to stay positive,” Gragg said.

 

“Because if you are not playing well, it is encouraging your teammate. If you can bring positive energy no matter how well or bad you are playing, it is going to help your team.”

 

In the second set, Elon started strong with aggressive attacks, leading for the entire set until Liberty tied it at 18.

 

After that point, both teams rallied until the end.

 

Elon eventually took the win as they scored the two times needed to defeat Liberty with a score of 27-25.

 

Once again, Liberty came from behind in the third set and tied it at the 13-point mark.

 

Even with strong kills from outside hitter Victoria Baptista, the Lady Flames could not keep the Phoenix from pulling away. Elon won in the third set.

 

Baptista is a junior transfer from Panola College.

 

She has impacted the team in many ways.

 

Vess said that Baptista does a good job at keeping the intensity within the team.

 

“(Baptista) is another one of those pieces to the momentum shifts,” Vess said.

 

 

“We get big plays, and we have big energy players like her. It just builds.”

 

In the fourth set, Liberty started strong offensively as both teams rallied point for point.

 

Liberty had a chance to run away with the fourth set after three straight ball handling errors from Elon, but instead the Phoenix caught up and tied it at the 22-point mark.

 

From that point on, the game was very close after a strong kill from Gragg brought the score to 23-24.

 

However, a kill from outside hitter Julia Crabtree of Elon was all it took for the Phoenix to capture both the set and the game.

Overall, the game was dominated by momentum switches for both teams.

 

“Volleyball is a game of momentum,” Coach Shane Pinder said.

 

“It is a roller coaster, so you have to hang in there and weather the storm and try to stay stable until the due time comes for your run.”

 

At the end of the day, Liberty allowed too many points, which let Elon get away with the score.

 

“They were more terminal than us,” Coach Pinder said.

 

“They were scoring the ball more than we were. They had 61 kills and we had 46, so that has kind of been the story the first couple of weekends. We are losing that battle by about four to five kills a set and so that adds up over time.”

 

The Lady Flames head out to Colorado Springs Sept. 8 where they will play Southern Utah and Air Force twice.

 

COPELAND is a sports reporter