Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – City High had a raucous crowd, an electric environment and loads of early excitement in its first match inside its brand-new athletic facility on Tuesday.

Top-ranked Liberty High had an answer for all of it.

Class 5A No. 1 Liberty High weathered an early storm of energy from the Little Hawks on its way to a 25-13, 25-11, 25-13 sweep of City High in a Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division match at the new City High gymnasium.

“We talked about finding that nice middle balance point where you are excited and having fun but you are focused and composed,” Liberty High co-head coach Allie Kelly said. “It was good for them to get in this environment and it’s fun to play in front of these crowds and to learn how to handle that and still play at your best.”

Cassidy Hartman had a match-high 14 kills and Shelby Kimm added 10 for Liberty High as the Lightning improved to 6-1 on the season and 2-0 in MVC play.

Playing in front of a large and boisterous crowd City High (2-3, 1-1) was strong early in the opening set and took an 8-7 lead on an ace block by freshman Emmy McComas.

In setting the tone for the rest of the evening, Liberty High had an answer.

The Lightning scored the next six points to take a 13-8 lead would trail only once more the entire match.

“I think we just settled down a bit,” Hartman said. “The big crowd was a little bit of a shock at the beginning and I think we settled down and played our game and we started passing better and producing.”

City High got as close as 16-11 but Hartman hammered four consecutive kills during a 5-0 Liberty High run that put the opening set away.

Hartman had five kills in each of the first two sets and finished with four ace serves and an ace block.

“We had a lot of adrenaline going into it, especially with the crowd and it was our first really big game of the year,” Hartman said. “There was a lot of energy and I think we dealt with that pretty well.”

Liberty High never trailed in a 25-11 second-set victory and was behind just once, at 1-0, during a 25-13 win in the final set.

Kimm had four of her 10 kills during the decisive third set including three in a row to cap a 7-0 Lightning burst that made the score 14-4.

“We were talking a lot more and started communicating better,” Kimm said. “Once we started our energy up and we got some momentum we didn’t stop.”
Hartman and Kimm led the way but Liberty High got contributions from all over the lineup.

Nine different players had a kill for Liberty High which finished with a 45-20 edge in kills.

Freshman Asta Hildebrand had seven kills and Lilah VanScoyoc added five for the Lightning.

“All of our options can produce kills,” Hartman said. “Our middles are good and our right sides have gotten so much better and I think that has really helped us this year.”

Senior middle Sam Harvey had three kills while sophomore Lauren Rampsott had a kill and a team-high four ace blocks.

“Sam Harvey is getting more comfortable and Lauren Ramspott started playing middle for us during preseason and this weekend she got her shot in the middle and just brings this electric energy something really special to the floor dynamic,” Kelly said. “She has done really well at refining some things and being a bit more controlled.”

Sophomore Claire Ernst had a team-high nine kills for City High while Makayla Ribble and Ruby McDonough each had three kills for the Little Hawks.

Liberty High            25  25  25

City High                   13  11  13

Liberty High (Kills-aces-blocks)

Lauren Ramspott 1-1-4, Shelby Kimm 10-0-0, Asta Hildebrand 7-0-0, Sam Harvey 3-0-0, Nessa Hardaway 1-0-0, Gabbie Schroeder 0-1-0, Carlie Schroeder 1-0-0, Katie Tippet 2-0-0, Cassidy Hartman 14-3-1, Lilah VanScoyoc 5-0-0, Mariah Rollins 0-1-0, Bea Kaskie 1-0-0, Gracie Hennings 0-0-1, Totals 45-7-6.

Assists – Mariah Rollins 21, Asta Hildebrand 10

City High (Kills-aces-blocks)

Makayla Ribble 3-0-1, Sara Cassady 1-0-0, Ruby McDonough 3-0-0, Lauren Koch 2-0-0, Claire Ernst 9-0-0, Emmy McComas 2-0-1, Totals 20-0-2.

Assists – Makayla Ribble 14

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