Volleyball Posts Impressive Wins
Liberty’s varsity volleyball team improved their record to 9-5 last weekend finishing third in the North Texas Classic Volleyball Tournament in Prosper. The girls defeated Princeton, Ft. Worth Poly Tech, Little Elm, and Ft. Worth Brewer.
“After losing the semi-final match to a very strong White Oak team, the girls defeated Gunter to take home the third place trophy in the championship bracket!” said Lisa Deaver, head volleyball coach.
Liberty was led by junior Sophie Asprey, who was named to the all-tournament team after posting 64 assists and five aces in Saturday’s matches. Junior Betsy Smith led the team in kills, posting 29 through three matches to go along with seven aces, while senior Sarah Stanley had a team-high 85 digs.
Earlier this month in a big matchup, Liberty defeated the Denton Broncos. Despite holding solid leads toward the end of the first and second sets, the Lady Broncos could only watch as Liberty Christian used late runs to take a commanding lead and eventually earn the sweep at the Purple Pit.
“We made adjustments and the girls were very disciplined in their ability to remember what they were,” Deaver said. “They really improved as the match went on, which is the huge sign of maturity that we’ve been looking for. I was very proud of their effort.”
Deaver hopes that maturity will pay dividends for the Lady Warriors later on this year. Liberty has a wealth of juniors on its roster with varsity experience and just one senior set to depart at the year’s end.
“They’ve been a young team for the past couple of years,” Deaver said. “The experience that they’ve had over the last few years has really matured them. They’ve grown up. They’ve gotten a lot tougher and they can stay focused for a longer period of time. They’re staying in control of their game.”
In the matchup, Liberty was led by Smith’s 13 kills and junior Abby Deaver’s 12. Asprey led the Lady Warriors in assists with 35, while Stanley and junior Cassie Okland led defensively with 29 and 26 digs, respectively.
In the Ryan Tournament on Aug. 12, Liberty won two of its three matches, knocking off Lancaster and Decatur. Liberty’s only loss of the day came against Waxahachie. Asprey led Liberty with 108 assists on the day. Smith posted 56 digs and Okland had 37 kills.
In junior varsity news, the JV Gray was the silver bracket champs in a tournament held last weekend.
“Our girls played amazingly well against some tough competition during their bracket play, defeating Bishop Dunne, Grace Prep, and Dallas Christian!” said coach Kate Davis. “They beat the first two teams in two games and went to a third game to defeat Dallas Christian.”
A thanks to the Denton Record-Chronicle for providing some of the volleyball news above.