Liberty Lady Eagles dominate first week of games

The Lady Eagles 2022 season is off to a fantastic start as the Eagles dominated the first week of games coming out 3-0.

The season opener for the Lady Eagles was Monday, August 29 in Licking, and what a way to start the season.

The Junior Varsity won in two sets 25-16, 26-24 with Junior Kaylie Foster leading with 6 kills and 6 digs. Sophomore Ady Holden had 5 aces, and Sophomore Kinsey Shoup had 12 digs.

The Varsity match was a roller coaster of emotions for the Eagle fans as it took the Lady Eagles five sets to come away with the win.

Liberty took the first set 25-21, Licking took the second 22-25, Liberty took the third 25-19, Licking took the fourth 21-25 and then Liberty took the fifth 15-11.

For the game, Junior Bre Daniels led with 22 kills, 22 digs, and 2 aces; Sophomore Korie Lind had 3 kills, and 7 blocks; Senior Lyla Cornman had 4 aces, 10 kills, 13 digs, and 23 assists; Senior Kenzie Daniels had 20 digs, 2 aces, and 11 kills; Junior Maci Tharp had 23 assists, 1 ace, and 8 digs; Junior Kinzie Tomey had 4 kills, and 4 digs; Sophomore Bryleigh Wallace had 3 digs, and 6 kills; Junior Kaylie Foster had 1 ace, 1 kill and 1 dig; and Sophomore Kaylie Wanger had 22 digs for the game.

"Last night was definitely a first game!" Head Coach Shari Tune shared. "As a coach, a tough match like this one is a great way to begin because you can see quickly what needs to be fixed. The first of each game we looked pretty solid, as the game went on, we got comfortable. Comfortable leads to lack of something. Rather it was discipline, mentality or effort, we saw all of those. Lack leads to errors. Serving and passing is the most important factor in volleyball and as we got comfortable each game, our errors increased. I was very pleased with their fight, but we have to learn to play a whole game and match, and limit the errors. These girls are just adjusting to a new rotation, so it will only get better with experience. I am excited to keep working!"

In a clean sweep, the JV and Varsity Lady Eagles defeated the Poplar Bluff Lady Mules on Tuesday, August 30 at the Eagle's Nest.

The JV won in two sets 25-19 and 25-21. Sophomore Aliyah Kramer had 4 aces and 6 assists; Foster had 6 kills and 6 digs; Shoup had 8 digs; and Junior Grace Berkshire had 3 blocks.

In Varsity action, the Lady Eagles won in three straight sets 25-20, 25-17 and 25-15. For the game, K. Daniels had 2 aces, 4 kills, 2 assists, and 9 digs; Tharp had 5 aces, 14 assists, and 3 digs; Cornman had 6 kills, 9 assists and 8 digs; B. Daniels had 2 aces, 12 kills, 4 blocks, and 6 digs; Lind had 5 kills, 2 blocks, and 1 dig; Tomey had 1 block, and 1 dig; Wagner had 3 digs, and 1 assist; and Wallace had 2 kills, and 2 digs.

"Tuesday evenings match was much better error wise," began Coach Tune. "Both teams still need to improve on playing the whole game, not just half of it. This is common early on, and can be fixed, so that’s a plus. I did see a bigger value in siding out quicker which was one of our main focuses! I'm proud of these girls and their grit. Our crowd and pep club were fantastic as well!"

On Tuesday, September 1 the Lady Eagles wrapped the first week of games with another win against the West Plains Lady Zizzers.

The Eagle's played a C set and won 25-13. The JV lost in three sets 15-25, 25-21, 10-15. For the game, Foster had 9 kills and 6 digs; Shoup had 17 digs; and Kramer had 6 assists.

In Varsity action, the Eagle's lost the first set 17-25 then made a comeback in the next three sets 25-18, 25-14 and 25-21.

For the game, K. Daniels had 19 digs, 2 aces and 5 kills; Tharp had 16 assists and 2 aces; Cornman had 15 digs, 11 assists, 7 kills and 3 aces; B. Daniels had 10 kills, 6 digs and 5 blocks; Lind had 4 kills; Tomey had 1 ace and 1 kill; Wagner had 18 digs; Wallace had 4 digs and 2 kills.

When asked about the first week of play, Coach Tune stated, "We finished up our busy first week with a win over West Plains last night. The JV had a battle and I was impressed with the fight from them. We have girls thrown in every direction right now, but next week we will have everyone back in their roles. It's been a good test for them this week! Varsity has had a different take every game. The first night it was finishing a game, the second it was starting a game and last night it was fighting back after a first set loss. I am proud of how they overcame that first loss. That is a weakness we struggled with last year, so that is a boost! It was a fun match and every match I see improvements in mentality, fight, teamwork and individual skills. I also always find new things to work on! We are ready to roll into yet another tough week!"

Next up for the Lady Eagles is a home game against Strafford on Tuesday, Sept. 6 and another home game against Eminence on Thursday, Sept. 8. The week will wrap with the Zizzer Showdown Volleyball Tournament to be held on Saturday, Sept. 10.