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Liberty Lady Eagles Kick off Season with Tough Schedule

The Liberty Lady Eagles are well into their volleyball season with varsity standing at 3-2 and the junior varsity at 2-2. Competing in Class 2 District 9, Liberty will be facing some tough opponents ahead. Current district team standings are Houston (4-0), Licking (3-1), Mansfield (0-4) and Thayer (1-1). The Lady Eagles are looking to learn and build off each game as they move forward.
The season kicked off at home on Monday, August 30 against the Licking Lady Wildcats. The Lady Eagles battled through their first game of the season but ultimately fell to the Wildcats after four sets of play, 17-25, 23-25, 28-26 and 21-25. The JV Lady Eagles won in two sets.
Following the first home game, the Lady Eagles traveled to Poplar Bluff on Tuesday, August 31 to take on the Lady Mules. The JV fell to the Mules 20-25, 23-25. Leading the team was Sophomore Kaylie Foster with 4 kills and 5 aces. Sophomore Maci Tharp had 6 assists for the game. The Varsity came away with their first win for the season defeating the Lady Mules in three sets 25-22, 25-16 and 25-17. Senior Lexi Shumpert led with 12 kills and 17 assists. Senior Kenna Woolsey had 17 digs for the night.
Rounding out the week, the Lady Eagles traveled to West Plains on Thursday, September 2 to take on the Lady Zizzers. The JV won in two sets 25-17 and 25-21. Freshman Bryleigh Wallace led with 4 kills. Tharp had 8 assists and Foster had 3 aces. The Varsity Lady Eagles swept the Lady Zizzers in three sets 25-22, 25-20 and 25-18. Sophomore Bre Daniels led with 3 aces, 8 kills, 6 blocks and 18 digs. Shumpert had 18 assists and 7 kills.
"We have an extremely tough schedule, especially to kick off the season," stated Head Coach Shari Tune. "We know how beneficial tough games are and how much you can learn from a loss. Hopefully with these tough games we can find the right flow quick and start building upon that for the remainder of the season."
For the second week of the season, the Lady Eagles traveled on Tuesday, September 7 to Strafford where both the JV and Varsity fell. The JV fell in three sets 25-18, 23-25 and 7-15. Leading the night was Foster with 8 kills and Freshman Kaylie Wagner with 13 digs and 3 aces. Varsity lost in three 14-25, 20-25, 17-25. Junior Kenzie Daniels had 3 aces and 5 kills for the night. Shumpert had 5 kills and Woolsey had 16 digs.
Starting out a little rocky, the Lady Eagles swept the Eminence Lady Redwings on Thursday, September 9 in three sets, 25-23, 25-13, 25-8. Leading with 7 kills was Junior Lyla Cornman. Shumpert had 12 assists and Tharp had 13 digs.
"We saw a ton of action tonight from our Freshmen and Sophomores and they handled the pressure well," commented Coach Tune on the win. "I'm super excited to see all these Freshmen and Sophomore players getting time. It's a huge gain for experience for them and it pushes our veterans to step up. We know we can compete, but our consistency and mentality have to get better as a whole."
Next up for the Lady Eagles are two home games against Summersville on Tuesday, September 14 and Winona on Thursday, September 16. Both games will start at 5:30pm.
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