Junior Mylie Erks had one of her career best nights in helping Liberty Bell High School to a 3-0 volleyball win over 2A Quincy Thursday night in the Lions’ Den.
Erks was a force offensively with 19 kills and a 75% hitting efficiency as the Mountain Lions dominated the Jackrabbits, 25-8, 25-17, and 25-17.
Sophomore Zephyr Woras opened the match with a string of nine consecutive points from the service line, mixing in three aces and getting some help from Erks and senior sister Wynter Woras as the Mountain Lions took an immediate 9-0 lead and cruised to a first set win, 25-8. Wynter Woras tallied four kills as the Mountain Lions set the tone for the night.
Quincy jumped to an early 4-2 lead in the second set, but it wasn’t long before the local girls righted the ship and steadily pulled away for a more strenuous 25-17 win. Set 3 was another 25-17 win, set up by an 11-3 run out of a 8-8 tie to break it open.
“I think we were really hyped up tonight and had a lot of people show up to support us, so we really wanted to show up and we all worked together really well,” Erks said after the match. “I think it was really just about trying to have a lot of confidence tonight and play strong.”
Head coach Beth Blank and team statistician Greg Knott were in agreement about Erks’ night on the floor. “We‘ve known she’s had that in her,” said Blank. “It was her night and the rest of the team just fed off that.”
Liberty Bell jumped to a 4-0 match record with only one set loss to Okanogan in the season opener. They carried that momentum into the annual Ephrata tournament on Saturday, where they placed third among the 12 competing teams, a mix of teams from the 1B through 4A classifications of schools.
Playing best of three matches instead of the typical best of five format, team records aren’t affected by the results of the tournament. But wins don’t hurt the RPI rankings, either.
Pool play on Saturday morning had the Mountain Lions matched with Waterville, Cascade (Leavenworth) and 2A West Valley (Spokane). Liberty Bell went undefeated, beating West Valley, 25-21 and 25-18. “They beat us last year and are a very intimidating team,” Blank said.
Getting West Valley out of the way early allowed Blank to let some “swing” players see varsity action against Cascade and Waterville. It was two more shutout wins for the Mountain Lions,l 25-15 and 25-17 over the Kodiaks, 25-12 and 25-23 over the Shockers. “Alize (Covarrubias) set and Karlie (Treise) blocked well. Hana (Wertz) and Kaylee (Cole) played the back row,” Blank said.
The girls moved into the championship bracket, winning their quarterfinal match over 1A Connell, 25-11, 23-25 and 15-12. Uncharacteristically, the Mountain Lions stumbled at the service line with a string of six missed serves in the second set. Blank noted that Erks stood out in the Connell match, converting good passing and sets into points for Liberty Bell.
It was on to the semi-final match and a date with 2025 state 1A tournament participant Lakeside (Nine-Mile Falls) from the Spokane area. The Eagles were “very tall, physical and well-coached,” according to Blank. “They had a huge, disciplined block and very tight defense.”
The Lions battled to a pair of set losses, 21-25 and 19-25, in the semi-final. It wasn’t without some good play. “Avery (Vracin) was the standout in this game as she played a clever game with her choice of tips and off-speed shots,” Blank said.
Vracin and the Woras sisters, Wynter and Zephyr, were the leading scorers on the day, according to Blank. Erks and McMillan also scored well, though neither did any work on the service line. The Liberty Bell back row defense held firm, led by senior libero Neve Kelly.
“She was all over the court all day taking care of business,” Blank said of Kelly. “Ava (Schade) and Violet (Darwood) passed free-balls right into the setters’ hands, and we were able to run most of our offensive options off free balls consistently.”
Blank sees a personality change in a team that has grown up together from their early youth volleyball days. “This year, they have a ‘let us at ’em’ attitude against tough competition. It is akin to unleashing an attack dog; they are that eager to win,” Blank said.
Two big matches were on tap this week. Tuesday the Mountain Lions traveled to Brewster in a matchup featuring two of the top three projected CW2B teams. Wednesday at Liberty Bell the defending league champion Manson Trojans came calling. The next home action for the Mountain Lions is slated for next Thursday, Oct. 1, in the Lions’ Den, 5 p.m. JV and 6:30 p.m. varsity.
