Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

NORTH LIBERTY – Things looked a little different off the court when Liberty High officially opened its volleyball season on Tuesday.

With fans prohibited from attending due to COVID-19 guidelines the stands at Liberty High were essential empty with the exception of sophomore team members from each team.

On the court it was the same old Liberty High.

Class 5A second-ranked Liberty High showed off many of the same qualities it used to reach the state tournament last season in a 25-11, 25-22, 25-15 sweep of cross-town rival City High (1-3).

“It was a little weird it felt like a scrimmage almost but our first set we came out really strong,” Liberty High sophomore Cassidy Hartman said. “We got down sometimes but we still stayed positive and kept our energy high and had confidence in ourselves.”

Liberty flashed an offensive attack overflowing with options and led by powerful sophomore hitters Hartman and Shelby Kimm.

Strong setter play, aggressive serving and steady ball control made it look a lot like the Liberty High team that won 34 matches and advanced to the Class 5A state tournament last fall.

“They have a lot of options,” City High coach Tricia Carty said. “They are a very balanced team with incredibly skilled attackers and they are really solid blockers.”

Hartman and Kimm combined for 24 kills, seven ace serves and three blocks to lead a Liberty High attack that featured kills from seven different players.

Five different Liberty High hitters had at least five kills in the win.

“We just have so many options,” Liberty High senior setter Hailey Hested said. “Shelby and Cassidy in the middle are big for us, obviously Lauren (Roman) is a good hitter, so you can’t really go wrong.”

Hartman had a match-high 14 kills while Kimm added 10.

Roman and sophomore right side Lilah VanScoyoc each had five kills while junior Sydney Woods had three.

Liberty High finished with a 39-17 advantage in kills in the match.

“You really can’t really go wrong anywhere,” Hested said. “Lila I didn’t expect her to come out like that on the right side, I didn’t get her as many sets as I would have liked to but I thought she looked awesome.”

Liberty High was scheduled to open the season last week but had its opener against Cedar Rapids Washington postponed and had a schedule tournament at Ankeny Centennial on Saturday cancelled.

In its first action of the season it took the Lightning some time to get rolling.

Liberty High led the opening set 10-9 before scoring 15 of the final 17 points.

“We have some things we have to work on but overall there were some good moments throughout the match,” Liberty High coach Randy Dolson said. “We did some nice things but there are always things to work on early on in the season.”

City High wouldn’t go quietly.

The Little Hawks led for much of the second set, taking an early 13-9 lead and rallying from a two-point deficit to tie the set on an Alia Vanderhoef block.

Liberty High scored the final three points of the set on a Kimm kill, a hitting error and a Hested ace.

“I was really proud of how we played in spurts,” Carty said. “We had times where we showed what this team is capable of we are just still gaining the confidence to put a whole match together.”

Liberty High caused problems for the Little Hawks all match with its aggressive serving.

The Lightning had five players with an ace serve and finished with 13 aces compared to just one for City High.

“We struggled at time serve receive,” Carty said. “We talked a lot about valuing that first ball contact, they are very aggressive servers and we are still gaining some confidence.”
Freshman Claire Ernst led City High with five kills while Vanderhoef had four kills, an ace serve and two blocks.

Liberty High will hit the road for its second game traveling to fourth-ranked West Des Moines Dowling (3-1) on Thursday for a top-five showdown.

“We’ve been practicing since the first of August and there were definitely some stagnant practices the last couple weeks just because we needed to play,” Dolson said. “We have Dowling on Thursday and hopefully we will go put on a good showing because I know they are a good team.”

Liberty High              25  25  25

City High                   11  22  15

Liberty High (Kills-aces-blocks)

Addie Schmierer 0-1-0, Lauren Roman 5-0-1, Sydney Woods 3-0-0, Shelby Kimm 10-3-1, Sam Harvey 1-0-0, Hailey Hested 1-3-0, Gabbie Schroeder 0-2-0, Cassidy Hartman 14-3-2, Lilah VanScoyoc 5-0-1, Team 39-13-5.

Assists – Hailey Hested 20, Mariah Rollins 11

City High (Kills-aces-blocks)

Joslyn Becker 2-0-1, Alia Vanderhoef 4-1-2, Makayla Ribble 3-0-0, Sara Cassady 2-0-1, Ruby McDonough 1-0-1, Claire Ernst 5-0-1, Team 17-1-6.

Assists – Makayla Ribble 11, Maya Morales 1

Did you enjoy this subscription free article? Help keep Your Prep Sports free by donating.