From left, Liberty Bell volleyball coach Christine Scott shared a moment on the bench with seniors McKenna Ott, Hannah Bakke and Hailey Dammann, Monday (Oct. 28) before the senior night match against Bridgeport.
The Liberty Bell High School volleyball squad will make its first appearance in the district playoffs in six years.
The Lady Lions (11-4, 7-1) aren’t just squeaking in, either. They are a solid second place in the Central Washington 2B League behind Brewster, earning them the right to host playoff matches on Saturday (Nov. 2).
“It’s exciting,” coach Christine Scott said Monday (Oct. 28), after her team dispatched the Bridgeport Fillies 25-13, 25-7, 25-11. Scott is in her fourth year coaching Liberty Bell volleyball, and Saturday night’s match at home will be her first playoff experience.
“That was our goal last year,” Scott said. The team missed districts by one game in 2018.
“Now our goal is to win Saturday,” she said.
Liberty Bell dominated Bridgeport in all facets, including on serve. Seniors Hailey Dammann and Hannah Bakke combined for 11 aces — nine by Dammann — after being honored along with McKenna Ott on senior night. Ott had a solid match in her final regular season contest before injuring her knee early in game 3.
Earlier, Liberty Bell swept Soap Lake on Oct. 22, 25-14, 25-10, 25-10. Seniors Dammann, Bakke and Ott distinguished themselves on serve, combining for 13 aces.
The Lady Lions will kick off districts by watching the league’s third- and sixth-place teams play at 5 p.m. Saturday in the Liberty Bell High School gym. They play the winner of the early match at 7:15 p.m.
A few league matches remained to be played on Tuesday night (Oct. 29), so final seedings hadn’t been determined by press time. Barring any upsets on Tuesday night, Tonasket, as the sixth seed, will play third place Lake Roosevelt in the early game on Saturday.
A Lake Roosevelt win would set up a rematch of a hard-fought contest on Oct. 1, when Liberty Bell squeaked by the Lady Raiders in five games at home.
Both teams competing in the late match — Liberty Bell and whoever — advance to the district championship round, 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday (Nov. 5) in Brewster.
The Lady Lions are already guaranteed a spot in a crossover tournament with teams from the 2B Eastern Washington Athletic Conference, starting at 3 p.m. Nov. 7 at Wenatchee High School.
