Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

CEDAR RAPIDS – Liberty High cruised into the state tournament with a 34-2 record and fresh off back-to-back regional sweeps.

The first state tournament ride in program history for the Lightning hit a roadblock in the form of seventh-ranked Pleasant Valley on Tuesday in Cedar Rapids.

Pleasant Valley (30-5) collected 18 blocks in a 25-17, 25-12, 19-25, 25-20 win over second-ranked Liberty High in a Class 5A quarterfinal at the US Cellular Center.

The Spartans will face No. 3 West Des Moines Valley (41-4) in the 5A semifinals on Thursday at 10 a.m. while Liberty High had a breakthrough season end at 34-3.

“It’s not the finish that we wanted but I’m proud overall of making it this far,” Liberty High senior LeeAnn Potter said. “It wasn’t the way we wanted to end but we accomplished so much this season.”

The combination of a balanced hitting attack, a stout block and aggressive serving sent Pleasant Valley back to the semifinals for the first time since 2012.

Five different Spartans had four or more kills led by senior Kaitlyn Morgan with 11 and freshman Chloe Cline with 10.

Emily Wood had eight kills, Erica Brohm five and the Spartans’ top hitter on the season, senior Ilah Perez-Johnson had four.

“We wanted to go into the game without any worries and just play our game,” Perez-Johnson said. “We knew if we could play our style of volleyball things would go smoothly.”

Pleasant Valley had a 40-33 edge in kills on Tuesday but it was the Pleasant Valley block and its work at the service line that proved the difference.

The Spartans got 11 combined blocks from 6-foot-1 seniors Brohm and Morgan and four from junior Emily Wood.

“We watched film on them and they gave up a lot of line and that’s what we thought we had but they obviously watched film on us and knew that line was our favorite shot,” Liberty High senior Rylee Fay said. “(Their block) kind of surprised us especially on the outside.”

Toss in aggressive serving that resulted in 12 aces and Pleasant Valley was impressive in every phase in its first trip to state since 2013.

“You can live and die by the sword sometime and that sword is the serve,” Liberty High coach Randy Dolson said. “They served extremely tough and got us out of system and that’s half the ball game.”

Pleasant Valley never trailed while winning the first two sets.

The Spartans scored the first four points of the match while jumping to a 6-1 lead in the opening set and opened the second set with a 7-0 burst.

“Sometimes this place can eat you up a little bit and I don’t think we could settle in right off the bat,” Dolson said. “I think Pleasant Valley played well, they adjusted really well to our game plan. Maybe we didn’t adjust well enough to the way they were attacking but it was definitely a serve and pass game from the get go.”

Liberty High wasn’t going to go without a fight.

The Lightning bolted to a 6-1 lead in the third set and overcame a late 17-16 deficit by scoring 9- of the final 11 points in a 25-20 win.

“We just wanted to go out aggressive in the third set and play our game,” Potter said. “We hadn’t been playing it the first sets. They are a good team, everyone here is a good team so we had to stay up and not let down.”

Fay had three of her team-high seven kills in the third set, including back-to-back kills to secure the win.

“We all had the mentality that we weren’t giving up and we were going to fight,” Fay said. “I felt like we just needed something to spark us.”

Liberty High gave itself an opportunity to force a fifth set.

The Lightning led 7-3 early in the fourth and had a 16-15 lead late but Pleasant Valley used a 5-0 run to seize the momentum and take a 20-16 lead it would never give up.

“Liberty is a great team, they put up a great fight,” Pleasant Valley coach Amber Hall said. “It went back and forth and I really proud of girls that we got punched in that third set but we didn’t let that rattle us we really kept our composure all the way through.”

The loss capped an incredible breakthrough season for Liberty High in its third year as a program.

After posting 13 and 19 wins in its first two varsity seasons the Lightning had winning streaks of 13 and 19 this season.

“It was truly amazing,” Fay said of the season. “I never thought we would be 34-3 and making it to state. It’s really memorable for me as a senior.”

Liberty High                17  12  25  20

Pleasant Valley          25  25  19  25

Liberty High

(Kills-aces-blocks)

Kennedy Daugherty 4-0-1, Rylee Fay 7-0-0, Cassidy Hartmann 6-2-0, Haley Hested 0-2-0, Shelby Kimm 6-0-0, Lauren Roman 5-0-3, LeeAnn Potter 5-1-2, Team 33-5-6.

Assists – Rylee Fay 14, Hailey Hested 12, Addie Schmierer 3, Sydney Woods 1

Pleasant Valley

(Kills-aces-blocks)

Erica Brohm 5-1-6, Chloe Cline 10-1-3, Kaitlyn Morgan 11-0-5, Ilah Perez-Johnson 4-5-0, Kora Ruff 2-2-0, Emily Wood 8-3-4, Team 40-12-18.

Assists – Kora Ruff 40, Ilah Perez-Johnson 2, Kaitlyn Morgan 1, Sara Hoskins 1, Claire Bebow 1

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