Women’s volleyball splits weekend series with NMSU
After taking the first game of a weekend series, the Lady Flames volleyball team put up an incredible fight against the New Mexico State Aggies in an extremely intense four-set match Oct. 8. Despite its tremendous efforts, Liberty fell just short of a victory, with a final score of 3-1.
“New Mexico State is a really good team,” Flames’ Head Coach Trevor Johnson said. “They are 13-6 for a reason. I’m proud of the girls. I think they all work really hard. It’s frustrating for sure to have these losses, but it’s also a great learning opportunity for us.”
Although the Aggies reigned victorious in the first set at 25-20, the Lady Flames came back roaring, ending a nail-biting second set with a 26-24 victory. Junior outside hitter Kamryn Bucus dominated the set, securing the winning point with an incredible kill from the outside.
The match remained a highly competitive and intense battle between the two teams. Liberty followed closely behind, but narrowly lost the third set 25-20.
“I think something that is really important with this group of girls is knowing that it’s a long game,” senior setter Delaney Dilfer said. “Even if the other team is up a couple points or they’re up a set, we still have a lot of volleyball to play. We all have to be on the same page, remembering to take it one point at a time.”
The Lady Flames put up a strong fight, finishing off the match with a fourth set score of 25-23.
“We talk about having a next play mentality, which we do really well, but there needs to be a sense of urgency for the current play. We need to communicate more,” Johnson said. “Delaney Dilfer does an awesome job of communicating that before, during and after the play. She needs some help and help is on the way.”
Bacus and sophomore middle blocker Madison Blane showcased their skills by leading the team with 14 kills each.
“Trust and confidence in your teammates plays a huge role,” Dilfer said. “The best teams practice like they play, and through that practice, they build that trust and confidence. That’s something that this team knows that we need to get better at. In practice we need to be giving it everything we have, being gritty, playing for each other, and that will go straight into the games.”
Throughout the entirety of the match, the team displayed strong determination and effort, fighting for every point. However, despite its hard work, the team fell short in the end.
“I thought that they were giving everything they could. There were just a couple hesitant plays and a couple times we didn’t expect the ball to come to us defensively,” Johnson said. “Those are things that just can’t happen. We served tough. We passed really well. If you can win the pass battle, you’re (going to) win a lot of your matches, and I don’t know if we won the certain pass battle tonight, so we need to get better at that this week.”
The team now looks ahead, diligently preparing for its upcoming match against Jacksonville State Oct. 13.
“Losing is tough. We’ve never lost this much as a team. This is all new territory for us,” Johnson said. “What’s awesome with this group is they love each other, they respect each other, they trust us as a staff, and we know that good things are coming. We just gotta keep our thoughts and minds focused and believe that we’re (going to) do something special this season. Championships are won in November, not in October, so we still have some time.”
Carlson is a sports reporter for Liberty Champion