The Liberty University Women’s Volleyball team won a two-game bid against Louisiana Tech University over the weekend. The Lady Flames won both games 3-0, showcasing a performance of versatility and depth.
The Lady Flames dominated from the start of the first match Sept. 26, scoring 10 points before LA Tech earned a point of its own. With an aggressive start on offense, the Lady Flames shut down the Lady Bulldogs, winning the first set 25-8.
The second set began with high energy from Liberty. On the bench, the Lady Flames were engaged and excited, which fed into their energy on the court. They continued to dominate through the second set, winning 25-13.
The third and final set of Friday’s match against the Lady Bulldogs showcased the Lady Flames’ crafty offense, bringing them to a 25-15 set win and overall victory. The Lady Flames offense was led by junior outside hitter Jenna Otts with 13 kills on the night, sophomore outside hitter Paige Overcash with nine and sophomore outside hitter Carly O’Brien with seven.
On defense, O’Brien led the team with eight digs, and graduate student outside hitter Shyia Richardson had seven digs.
The Lady Flames faced the Lady Bulldogs again on Saturday afternoon, rounding out the weekend with another 3-0 win. The Lady Bulldogs came out of the gate more aggressive than the previous night, but the Lady Flames adapted accordingly.
“We did a great job of it, the adjustments we made throughout,” Head Coach Jeremy White said. “We just were kind of making some adjustments for what they were trying to do to us out of system and in system.”
The Lady Flames won their first two sets 25-15 and the third 25-13. Liberty finished the game with a total of 38 kills and 36 digs. Otts once again led the offense with 11 kills this game as she found open pockets across the court to slam her hard-hit shots. Otts had 24 combined kills against LA Tech for the weekend.
“I just want to contribute in every way I can in the best way I can, so I want to come up with a very aggressive attitude and mentality and to be good on all fronts,” Otts said.
Overcash had nine kills in Saturday’s match with a .375 hitting percentage and three blocks.
“(Overcash) did a really good job today getting a lot of blocks for us, stopping them,” Otts said after Saturday’s matchup. “I think the entire team played really well together and had great chemistry.”
The Lady Flames defense in Saturday’s match was led by Richardson with 10 digs and O’Brien with eight. Graduate student middle blocker Zoe Hall led the team with seven blocks while junior setter Charli Morris had six.
“We’ve kind of taken some teams lightly a little bit throughout the course of the season, and that was a glaring thing that we wanted to get rid of this weekend,” White said. “We kind of talked a lot about … really focusing on playing not just Louisiana Tech but the entire conference. … I’m just really proud of how we handled that.”
The Lady Flames’ spirited bench helped to build momentum on offense.
“(Our momentum) started a bit slow today, but I think we were able to pick it up,” Otts said. “It shows in huge games, and it shows in the small ones too.”
With a 14-1 record and a current 10 game win streak, the Lady Flames will travel south to the University of Texas El Paso Oct. 3-4 for a two-game series before returning to Liberty Mountain for another series against Kennesaw State University Oct. 10-11.
Wachowiak is a sports reporter for the Liberty Champion.