The Lady Flames volleyball team played a non-conference match Tuesday, Oct. 23rd, where they handled the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks, winning 3-1.
Going into Tuesday night the Hawks record was 6-13, but despite their losing record they managed to keep the match close against Liberty. The Hawks won the third set and kept things close in the fourth. Junior Kainah Williams knew what it would take in the end to win the match.
“In that last set, we just told each other that we needed to take care of our responsibilities and do our job,”
Williams said.
Flames Head Coach Trevor Johnson changed up his players in the final set, putting in juniors Casey Goodwin and Anna Gragg — something he believes made the difference.
“I put Casey and Anna Gragg back in,” Johnson said. “They both had some nice swings, so I think that helped the momentum and provided a comfort level that is there when those two are on the court.”
The match picked up intensity with every set. There was a total of 13 lead changes and 20 ties in the last three sets. Sophomore Jenna Culhan shined in this close match getting 13 kills.
“It was definitely nerve wracking; I think that everyone was a little frustrated, but we pulled it together and we are playing for God, each other, and we were just able to clean it up,” Culhan said.
Williams also played well getting 13 kills on 24 total attempts providing a needed lift for the team.
“I thought that we responded well,” Johnson said. “I have never questioned our heart or our grit. We just have to work hard every play and see what happens.”
The Lady Flames went on to rout the New Jersey Institute of Technology 3-0 Friday, Oct. 26 and took on Northern Alabama Sunday, Oct. 28 in a 3-0 win. Liberty’s game against Northern Alabama was the team’s last home game of the season.
“I think playing a game and getting that experience is better than practice because you never know what you’re going to get each game,” Williams said. “I think it prepares us to expect the unexpected.”
Johnson believes this game is a great way to prepare for the upcoming matches because it showed him exactly what he needed to do to ensure that the girls are ready for the conference play.
“This game exposed some things on our end — we need to do a better job of picking up tips and rolls.” Johnson said, “We also did some things defensively that were pretty good.”
This weekend brings Liberty’s record to 13-13 placing them fourth in the Athletic Sun conference, something the Flames look to improve as the season continues.
“For us it is always one game at a time. And not only that, it is one point at a time.” Johnson said. “It is just trying to control what we can control and just trying to win the next point.”
The Lady Flames have four regular season conference games left against Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast until they enter the ASUN volleyball championships Thursday, Nov. 15.