Flames Volleyball Falls To WVU

The Liberty University Women’s Volleyball team finished out its home-opening weekend with a loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers in straight sets (25-15, 25-22 and 25-14). 

The Flames hosted a tournament Sept. 13-15 that included East Tennessee State University, University of Virginia and West Virginia University. Despite finishing 1-2, the Flames were encouraged by the support they received from the Liberty community, which came out to cheer them on throughout the weekend.

“Regardless, win or lose, if we can give the effort and the attitude on the court that is worthy of watching and cheering on, I hope that the community keeps coming out,” Head Coach Nolan Albrecht said. 

Both the Flames and the Mountaineers came out Sunday afternoon swinging, trading kill for kill early in the first set. But a powerful WVU offense quickly blew through the Flames’ defense, pulling ahead and creating a gap that Liberty had a hard time closing. WVU outscored Liberty 15-7 at the end of the set for a 25-15 win. 

Liberty entered the second set with heads held high. Neither team was able to keep a lead for long, resulting in four ties in the first half of the set. Liberty adjusted
its offense by throwing in more off-speed attacks and working to hit around West Virginia’s massive block. West Virginia also made adjustments, proving to be even more scrappy and aggressive with its defense than in the first set. 

“Today, it wasn’t the total amount of blocks. It was our passivity in going to attack and trying to hit those high hands,” Albrecht said. 

WVU pulled away with a slight lead in the second half of the second set, but Liberty’s sophomore Charli Morris and senior Madison Blane put up a block that gave the Flames a chance at reclaiming the lead. 

Coming out of the time-out, a back-row attack call for WVU put the Flames in a position to take the set. However, Liberty couldn’t put up a block fast enough on West Virginia’s outside attacker Hailey Green, who put down a powerful kill to end the set at 25-22.

The Mountaineers hung on to that momentum and came into the third set with guns ablaze. They charged through a 5-0 run, showcasing an ace and two blocks that put the ball directly onto the floor. 

Liberty won a challenge early in the set, but it wasn’t able to hold on to the momentum. WVU quickly claimed a double-digit lead and shut down the Flames’ countless attempts at breaking through its defense. 

The Flames fought hard until the very end, making long volleys that failed to come up their way. After every Liberty swing, WVU found a way to swing back harder. The Flames came up short, 25-14, at the end of the third set. 

“This is one of those games that you can either excel from or crumble, and that’s what we talked about after the game. I know our team will choose to excel from it,” Liberty senior outside hitter Kate Gammer said. 

Albrecht said he wants to see his team less passive in the upcoming games. He believes that if the Flames can get in the driver’s seat during games, they will have a better chance at taking home wins. 

“Whenever you are the tentative side, the passive side, then the ball ends up taking advantage of your 30 by 30,” Albrecht said. “When you’re on the aggressive side, things start falling your way.”

Both Albrecht and Gammer are looking forward to the week ahead and the opportunity to improve upon where they fell short this match. “Choose to look outside of ourselves. That’s what we’ve been talking about, how can we play selfless volleyball for the girls next to us, and we just didn’t do that today,” Gammer said about the team’s focus for the week. 

After a week of practice, the Flames will head to a tournament at Ohio University Sept. 20-21, followed closely by their first conference game against Louisiana Tech Sept. 27. 

Mullet is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion.