Last year, Liberty’s varsity volleyball team suffered a defeat during Districts that ruined their chances of making it to State. But this year, the Lady Patriots took some key steps to make last year’s loss into this year’s victory.

“We definitely stepped up our game with conditioning,” senior Meliah Stewart, varsity’s outside hitter, said. “I think it’s paid off because we have a winning record for the season, and we’re going to State.”

The team has also been taking extra measures during practice, focusing on drills that will benefit them during the game, and a variety of them too.

“We’ve been working on a lot of blocking and passing, trying to get to the ball faster,” sophomore Sydney Hopewell said, one of the team’s setters.

As a result from all the hard work the team has put forth, their camaraderie is stronger than ever.

“I think that now we are more of a team because we’ve been bonding more,” Hopewell said. “We’re a family.”

Along with this newfound connection between the players, the team is noticeably making progress as the season goes on. However, things have not been easy, as the team had to recover from several injuries like losing their libero temporarily due to a rolled ankle as well as one of their hitters and setters.

“There were a couple of injuries we had to adjust to,” Stewart said. “But the season isn’t over; I think we are on a good path to a solid state finish.”