All smiles for Liberty volleyball in straight set victory over Islanders

When the Liberty Patriots volleyball team last played Mercer Island, the Islanders took it to Liberty and defeated them three sets to one back on Oct. 1, which was the front half of a two-game losing streak.

Nearly a month later, Liberty doesn’t even look like the same team.

“We proved that we are a lot more than we have shown,” senior Maiya Lester said.

On Oct. 28, the Patriots took down the Islanders in dominant fashion with straight sets and full of confidence.

“We’ve had a lot of ups and downs. I think we have put ourselves in difficult positions and we have found a way to get out of those situations,” said Head Coach Shea O’Brien.

Coming in, Liberty was on an emotional journey. It was senior night for three key players: Maiya Lester, Kendreah Beazer and Layne Ford.

“I love these seniors. They are a huge part of the team. I love them all personally and I love them as players,” said O’Brien.

All three of those girls made their impact in the impressive win over Mercer Island — and the Liberty program in general.

“I never thought I would be as close to them (Ford and Beazer) that I am today. They are some of the craziest, kindest and most genuine people you could ever meet. You can really tell on the court they play with their whole heart,” Lester said.

On Monday night, the Patriots came out with a different energy. From the first serve, Liberty was in control, something that wasn’t the case last time out against the Islanders.

Even before the game started and the senior night festivities had commenced, the Liberty High School fire alarm went off. That snapped the intensity and in its own weird way, relaxed the Patriots. It allowed the seniors to get some fresh air and free their minds for the game on hand.

“It was a crucial moment for us. We were having fun and getting fresh air. We came back in and were ready in a different way,” Lester said.

In the loss early in October, the Islanders had 28 aces against Liberty, which singlehandedly put Mercer Island in the driver’s seat to win last time out.

“We were a lot more focused tonight… It is tough to recognize that you’re going to learn from something. After we lost to Mercer Island, we had some of the most focused practices we have had in a long time… We knew it was going to be emotional, but we knew we had to find a way to execute on the court,” O’Brien said.

Liberty took a 5-2 lead in the first set and stayed in front for the remainder of the opening round between these two sides. The Patriots won 25-17, using a late run to get some momentum.

The second set was a tightly contested set early on. Liberty was in front in similar fashion as the opening set, but Mercer Island found a run to draw level at 6-6. From then on, Mercer Island never took the lead and Liberty was able to find their way and took a 13-8 lead.

Despite this set being the closest set from an early stage, the Patriots closed out this set with the highest margin of victory.

For the third and final set, Liberty got out to a 7-2 lead and cruised to a 25-17 lead. Maiya Lester shined in her final home regular season game, recording just one error.

“She left it all out on the court tonight,” O’Brien said.

Lester said post-game that her confidence comes from the team.

“We all know that together we play so well. We are really finding our groove. We found our lineup and our people. Tonight we showed when we play together and for each other, it is really impactful,” Lester said.

The Patriots are battle tested this year. They hold a record of 12-5 in the regular season and have proven to not let a loss ruin their season. Instead, they learn and improve from it.

“We’ve had a lot more adversity this year. We have had to grow to put ourselves in this position. We have a pretty good road to state this year. Last year we kind of fell apart at districts. It is going to big for us to get through districts and KingCo,” O’Brien said.

Last year the Patriots took second in KingCo behind Lake Washington. This year, the Patriots can finish second as well, which means a lot for Liberty.

“You really know what a team is made of when they lose versus when they win…Sometimes there are losses where we can say we are proud of how we played. That loss to Mercer Island was an embarrassing loss and that’s now how we played. I think we proved tonight, this is how we play,” Lester said.