Hawks hiccup in volleyball win
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Liberty middle blocker Karsyn Woods goes up for a kill attempt against Fresno Christian. She had four kills in the four-set match win.
FRESNO — The Liberty Hawks girls volleyball team continued its winning ways, picking up victories over Fresno Christian and McLane-Fresno this week, but did lose a set along the way.
The Hawks rolled to 25-9, 25-9 set wins against Fresno Christian, but dropped the third set 25-20.
“We tried a few fun lineups and we didn’t do well in the third set,” head coach Brandon St. Lucia said.
St. Lucia put his starters in their normal positions and defeated Fresno Christian 25-4 in the fourth set.
On Thursday, the Hawk wrapped non-conference play with a three-set win over McLane.
In the win over Fresno Christian, Hannah Chase led the Hawks with 11 kills and six aces. Zoey Richey and Madison Devine each had five kills.
The Hawks delivered 26 aces in the match win. Richey added five aces and Paige Peterson had four.
If Liberty had been playing under the old system, where teams could only score when they had the serve and it was a race to 15, the Hawks won their three sets 15-2, 15-0, 15-0.
After the Eagles took an early 3-1 lead in the first set, a Chase kill and a Peterson ace gave the Hawks the lead. Fresno Christian tied the score with a side out, but a Richey kill and two Chase aces led to a 7-4 lead.
After an Eagles’ service error, Paiten Harlow served an ace and Karsyn Woods put down a tip kill for an 11-5 lead. Olivia Kaczmarek put down a side out kill and Tayler Sefton served up five straight points, including an ace. Chase had a kill and a dual block with Megan Gentry in the run.
A trade in side outs gave Peterson the serve, leading 21-9. She didn’t relinquish the serve with two Chase kills and an Eagles’ hit out of bounds on set point for the 25-9 win.
The Hawks scored the first five points of the second set, started by a Chase side out kill. Gentry served up four straight points, including an ace.
Fresno Christian aced the Hawks, but Woods got the side out with a kill.
Richey went back to serve and recorded a pair of aces. Chase added a kill and Richey had two more aces. Devine added a kill in the nine-point run for a 14-2 lead.
Fresno Christian cut into the lead by a point before Harlow served up two aces or a 20-4 lead.
After two Liberty service errors, Fresno Christian scored four points to cut the lead to 14. Chase put down kills on the final two points of the set for a 25-9 win.
The Hawks got a little complacent in the third set.
After an ace from Gentry and a Richey kill, Fresno Christian scored five of the next six points for a 5-3 lead.
Liberty reclaimed the lead with a Sefton ace, but the Eagles took a 9-7 and 11-9 lead.
Devine and Tiffany Herron put down kills and Gentry served an ace for a 12-11 Liberty lead. Another Devine kill and a point gave the Hawks a 14-13 lead. However, the Eagles scored four straight points to open a two point lead before a Sefton ace tied the set.
The two teams went back and forth until the Eagles aced the Hawks for a 23-19 lead. After a service error, Kaczmarek put down a tip kill to cut the lead to two. But, the Eagles finished out the set with two points and a 25-21 win.
St. Lucia put his team back in its normal rotation and the Eagles suffered.
Kaczmarek opened the set with a kill and Devine added an ace. Chase followed with a side out kill and Peterson went behind the line for eight straight points.
She recorded three aces in the run while Richey, Herron and Chase had kills for a 12-1 lead. Chase put down a side out kill and then served four aces in an eight-point run. Woods had a solo block and Devine had a kill in the run for a 20-2 lead.
A service error led to a side out, but Richey gave the Hawks the serve right back with a kill.
Richey and Devine put down kills with Kaylee White serving for a 24-3 lead. A service error gave the Eagles the side out, but Woods ended the game with a kill for a 25-4 win. All four Fresno Christian points came on Liberty side outs and two came on service errors.
