Youthful Liberty squad playing 'best volleyball'
| Friday, Oct 17 2008 01:57 AM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 02:37 PM
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Liberty's Mariah Alvidrez receives a serve for the Patriots against Centennial early this season.
Heading into this season, the Liberty High volleyball team had some glaring problems and situations.
Questions abounded.
Had the Patriots fully recovered from the sting of losing last year’s Central Section Division II championship match in five games to rival Centennial?
Could a team with just three seniors find the leadership to make another run at a section title? How would the loss of senior outside hitter Natalie Robinson — Liberty’s most valuable player — impact the team?
Well, as the season has revealed, the Patriots have answered those questions with resounding results.
“It’s gone unbelievably well,” Liberty coach Lean Slayton said. “And we’re just trying not to get ahead of ourselves.”
A smart approach for a team comprised mostly of juniors and sophomores that has experienced an abundance of success so far.
As they head down the stretch run toward the postseason, the Patriots find themselves 22-6 overall and undefeated (6-0) in the Southeast Yosemite League. Liberty is coming off a 4-1 performance last weekend at the San Diego-Torrey Pines tournament, where Slayton said the Patriots “played the best volleyball we’ve played yet.”
Liberty has found a way to do so without Robinson, its star who has verbally committed to the University of the Pacific next year. After missing the first five weeks of the season, Robinson returned from a shoulder injury two weeks ago against East but re-injured herself in that game. She was scheduled to have surgery on Wednesday and will miss the rest of the season.
The loss of Robinson — the “Terminator” as she is known for her ability to kill — is something the Patriots have learned to deal with.
“They just have taken everything in stride,” Slayton said. “They were really excited when they thought they had her back. But I think they have a lot of confidence in what they’re doing. Really, at this point, I felt more disappointed for Natalie. It’s her senior season, and she’s a great player.
“But I have so much confidence in the chemistry of this team that (losing Natalie) really didn’t shake us.”
Not to mention, the Patriots have managed to turn the potentially disastrous negative into a positive.
“It helps us strengthen every aspect of the game,” senior middle hitter Julie Bishop said. “Instead of just setting up Natalie every time we mix it up, switch it around. We work on the little details.”
Which has made for a different Liberty team than from a year ago.
“What this team has that we didn’t have last year is we play with a lot more smarts,” Slayton said. “Last year was all about trying to terminate the ball. Now we’re finding the holes in the court. We’re tooling off the block. ... “I think we’ve kind of learned that it’s not all about flashiness. It’s about just finding a way to get a kill.”
While that might be the difference, what remains is the stout defense. Led by junior Mariah Alvidrez, sophomore Mackenzie Carter and Bishop, Slayton called this year’s Patriots the best defensive team team she’s coached — better than the 2002 Patriots who won the state title. “I think it’s helped us come through with some big victories,” Slayton said.
Added Alvidrez: “If we keep the ball alive we’ll be able to put it down. Our defense basically does everything for us, and defense will always win championships.”
If that’s the case this season, it will be in Division I as the team has moved up from Division II. Liberty, which has lost to only Sanger among Central Section teams, already has a victory over defending Division I champion Clovis-Buchanan to its credit.
So when it comes to changing divisions, there are no worries.
“I’m very confident in what we can do,” Bishop said. “I think we can make a lot of progress, do some damage and dominate. I think we’re of the caliber of teams that can hang in D-I.” Maybe that’s true, but Slayton knows her team must remained focus on the present.
“They have to continue their focus,” Slayton said, “not get ahead of themselves and not become complacent with what we have achieved.”
