Your Prep Sports

When Liberty High coaches Randy Dolson and Allie Kelly elected to bulk up the schedule for the 2021 season they did so for matches like the Lightning had on Thursday evening.

Class 5A top-ranked Liberty High fell to fourth-ranked West Des Moines Dowling in a five-set thriller that lasted more than two and half hours on Thursday in front of a raucous crowd at Liberty High.

West Des Moines Dowling (21-10) rallied from a two sets to none deficit for a 22-25, 20-25, 29-27, 25-23, 18-16 win over Liberty High in a rematch of a 5A state semifinal from last season.

The loss snapped a 14-match winning streak for Liberty High and dropped the Lightning to 23-4 on the season.

It was the third meeting of the season between the two top-five ranked teams with Liberty High winning 2-1 back on September 4 and 2-0 at the Caroline Found Tournament at West High a week later.

Cassidy Hartman had 31 kills and 36 digs to lead Liberty High while Shelby Kimm had 16 kills and 14 digs for the Lightning.

Sam Harvey and Chante Hardaway each had seven kills while Gabbie Schroeder had a team-high 38 digs and Olivia Davenport had two ace serves.

Asta Hildebrand had 22 assists and three kills, Mariah Rollins had 38 assists and 14 digs and Lilah VanScoyoc had five kills.

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