By Brittany Bowyer
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PEORIA — The top-ranked Liberty Lions Volleyball squad powered their way to a 3-1 victory over no. 5 Pinnacle on Wednesday night at their “dig pink” night for breast cancer. Despite Pinnacle’s first set win, the match felt like a lopsided victory for the Lions. Liberty senior and Michigan State commit Lauren Forelli was all over the court for the Lions on Wednesday night, making things an absolute nightmare for the Pioneers as they tried to adjust to deal with her.

“She’s the person that we lean on in big moments, and she has the ability to lead and help inspire and carry the team like she did tonight,” Liberty Head Coach Carl DeFriez said. “She’s been doing that for four years and she’s going to continue that at Michigan State... She’s an amazing kid and great leader for us, so I’m excited to see how she finishes out her high school career.”

Pinnacle got off to a strong start in set one, working away to an early lead. A kill from Liberty’s Emma Nance cut Pinnacle’s lead to only two, but then the Pioneers would go on to score five unanswered points, pushing the lead to 12-7 and forcing Liberty to call a timeout. Working their way out of a hole, the Lions were able to rally back and tie set one at 15, forcing Pinnacle to call a timeout to regroup.

Things stayed close for the remainder of set one, with Pinnacle able to chip away to a 21-18 lead, forcing Liberty to use another timeout to try to reset. Coming out of the timeout, a block from senior Emma Minor extended Pinnacle’s lead to 22-18 and kept the momentum with the Pioneers. From there, they were able to continue working to a 25-22 victory over Liberty to take set one.

“I think we did a really good job executing the game plan that we came with in the first set,” Pinnacle Head Coach Caitlin Lord said.

“They kept the pressure on,” DeFriez said. “We were pretty high-error that first set, and they did a good job of just staying consistent and allowing us to make errors.”

According to DeFriez, the Lions needed to get their blocking a little bit more in tune with the hitters, which was something they worked on adjusting going into the rest of the sets.

“We were a little bit off there,” DeFriez said. “We weren’t getting great touches at the net, and just overall aggressiveness towards the ball.”

DeFriez also said the team came out a little flat with their enegery, so they also discussed bringing more energy to set two.

Set two was all Pinnacle early on, as they worked their way out to a 5-1 lead. However, Liberty suddenly found a spark, going on a 7-2 run to take an 8-7 lead. It was back and forth for a little while, before Liberty was able to again go on a run led by Forelli, jumping out to a 17-11 lead and forcing Pinnacle to call a timeout to try to salvage the set. It was seemingly too little to stop Liberty’s momentum from continuing to roll, as the Lions easily closed out the second set with a 25-16 victory to even the match at 1-1.

Liberty got off to a powerful start in set three, jumping out to a 15-5 lead. Pinnacle was getting visibly flustered on the floor, and Coach Lord called a timeout to try to turn things around, but the Pioneers still wouldn’t have an answer for the Lions. In a total team effort, Liberty was able to put Pinnacle away in set two 25-11, dominating their way to victory and taking a 2-1 lead in the match.

Mentally, it seemed as if the Pioneers had hit their breaking point.

“It felt like we wore them down a little bit,” DeFriez said. “I think that’s something we’ve been focusing on is having good energy from our bench, from our court. And that’s kind of exhausting at times to play against. It’s consistent, and the girls did a great job of doing that.”

Set four got off to a start with another big kill from Forelli, setting the tone as the Lions attempted to close things out. Pinnacle was able to keep it close early, tying things up at three, but Liberty would keep chopping away at the score. Trailing the Lions 12-6, Pinnacle called a timeout in set four. Forelli continued to be all over the court for the Lions in set four, helping Liberty push its way to a 20-10 lead and force Pinnacle to call another timeout.

The Pioneers had a little bit of fight left in them, leaving it all on the floor as they pushed to cut the lead to 22-14. Liberty called a timeout, knowing they were only three points away from a victory, as they regrouped. Pinnacle continued it’s push, cutting the lead to 23-18, but it was too little too late. Pinnacle was able to take set five 25-20 and win the match 3-1.

“They really adjusted to what we did in the first set, and we didn’t quite have the answer technically or mentally in the rest,” Lord said.

For both teams, the match was an excellend preview of what’s to come once playoffs start.

“This is huge,” Lord said. “We talked about this kind of all season, because we did have some losses early on, too. So, being able to take losses and learn from them and not push us into a hole is something we’ve gotta focus on as we push through the playoffs. We don’t love that we weren’t able to come out with a win, but we love that we get to learn about it now as we’re looking into late October and playoffs.”

“It’s a great win,” DeFriez said. “But the rest of our schedule, night after night, any team could win. That’s a good thing for us as we prepare towards the end of the season, but they’re all tough teams and tough games, so it’s just taking it night by night, point by point and just battling.”

Brittany Bowyer is a Report for America corps member, covering sports for Independent Newsmedia in Arizona. Report for America places talented journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and regions.