Flames Volleyball outflies Florida Gulf Coast Eagles in Straight Sets
The Liberty Flames women’s volleyball team grinded out an intense win in three sets over the ASUN conference-leading Florida Gulf Coast Eagles Tuesday night in the Vines Center.
The win lengthened the Flames win streak to three matches and maintained their dominance at home, where they remain undefeated in four matches.
“I’m really proud of our resiliency and the way the girls stepped up,” Head Coach Trevor Johnson said. “Everyone did their job – it was a good win for our program.”
The Flames did not win a set by more than three points, eclipsing the Eagles by scores of 25-22, 25-23 and 25-22. Liberty’s outside hitting tandem of Rajini Fitzmaurice and Amelia Jognson combined for nine kills and a block in the first set.
Liberty’s front row dominated on the defensive end and mitigated the Eagles attack, with the trio of Macy Phillips, Amelia Johnson and Anna Gragg creating a nearly impenetrable wall on defense.
The Flames prioritized limiting Eagles junior outside hitter Cortney VanLiew, who won ASUN conference player of the year last season. Even though VanLiew recorded 12 kills, the rest of the Eagles front row struggled to find a consistent rhythm throughout the match.
“It totally fueled us – it gets us pumped,” Amelia Johnson said of the Flames front row defense. “It establishes trust, it’s easier on the back row … and it frustrates the other team.”
BLOCK PARTY– Liberty’s middle blocker, Anna Gragg, goes up with right side, Casey Goodwin, for a block against FGCU’s outside hitter.
In the second set, Liberty seemed to commit a blocking error when Gragg and senior setter Hannah Morris called Eagles sophomore setter Chelsey Lockey hit as out of bounds. The Eagles celebrated, thinking they had taken a crucial 23-21 lead in the set.
However, Trevor Johnson utilized one of his coach’s challenges and remained calm amid the chaos, even waving toward the jumbotron during the timeout. After review, the officials reversed the call, tying the score at 22-22. Liberty leveled the score at 23, and senior outside hitter Peyton Carter served the Flames to the crucial 25 to take a commanding two-set lead.
“I try to stay calm and collected because I want my team to be calm and collected,” Johnson said. “I don’t want to get too high or too low emotionally.”
The deciding third set featured four lead changes and six ties throughout the set. VanLiew had four of her kills in this set that saw the Eagles lead 22-21 at one point, but two attack errors and a kill by Phillips propelled the Flames to a 25-22 victory that avenged last year’s ASUN tournament semifinal loss.
Liberty’s even keel drove them to victory in a match that could have easily ended with the Eagles on top.
“Part of our identity and our culture is that when teams watch us play, they shouldn’t know if we are down or up,” Johnson said. “We just want to look the same – I thought the girls did an awesome job at that. There were times when they would get runs of three or four and (our team) would keep responding – that’s a credit to them for trusting the process.”
The Flames are set to continue their three-game home stretch against ASUN opponents with a match against the Jacksonville University Dolphins at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sep. 28.