Liberty starts hot, cools off as pressure mounts in final
| Friday, Nov 21 2008 02:24 AM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 02:06 PM
FRESNO — Just a few minutes into the Division I Central Section volleyball championship Thursday, the air in Clovis West's cozy West Gym was thick with anxiety that had crept into the home crowd's anticipation.
Liberty had come from Bakersfield and had taken seven of the first nine points of the match — not exactly following Clovis West's script of come, put up a good fight and then stay for our coronation.
But, flashing the varied offense and killer defense that served it well all year, top-seeded Clovis West stormed back to take a 25-18, 25-21, 28-26 victory against No. 2 Liberty, earning the school's first ever volleyball title in front of a raucous crowd.
Those tense moments? Long gone.
"They have worked so hard, and they've put up with me," said coach Rhonda DeRuiter, who broke through for her first section title at Clovis West after winning three as a player at Reedley-Immanuel and six more as a coach at Visalia-Central Valley Christian. "So I'm really proud of them. They hung in there all season and got what they deserved."
As for the Patriots (29-8), a defeat -- though it was a hard-fought one, especially in a drum-tight third game — wasn't what they had come looking for.
"I just wanted them to come into this match and give everything they had," coach Lean Slayton said. "We didn't want to look back or have any regrets, and I think we did that tonight."
The match, as expected, featured long rally after long rally. Liberty's defense produced double-digit digs from five players — Mikinzi DeMarco with 16, Mariah Alvidrez and Kristin Halling with 13 each, Morgan Hubbell with 11 and Emily Cote with 10 — but the Golden Eagles (27-6) were equal on D and probably better on offense.
"They were super-fast blocking and also offensively," Slayton said. "There were super fast-arm swings and low sets, so it was hard to adjust to the timing."
Kills from Lyndsie Peterson, Melody Mandelbaum and Emily Jacobson, plus a couple of blocks from Lauren Albertson, helped Clovis West turn that early 7-2 deficit into a 10-10 tie. From there, they ran away with Game 1.
Liberty, which was led by Alvidrez's 12 kills and Cote's 29 assists, held a brief 7-5 lead in Game 2 also before getting snowed over again. It wasn't that Clovis West dominated in any long stretches as much as the Golden Eagles always seemed to have a big swing waiting at the end of a rally.
"We have so many hitters and run a pretty complicated offense," DeRuiter said. "I think a lot of people have a hard time stopping us if we can get into offense."
Liberty dug in, like it did in eliminating three-time defending champion Clovis-Buchanan in the semifinals, and found a way to hold a 22-19 lead in Game 3.
But kills from Albertson and Peterson, plus a double block from Mandelbaum and Jacobson, quickly evened the match. The teams traded points until Mikayla Pierce — who led the balanced Eagles with 12 kills — won them their championship with a kill and a block at 26-26.
"We got really tense and just kind of freaked out a little bit," Alvidrez said. "We should have stayed calm; I think we could have pulled it out."
That left Liberty's players almost in disbelief, with several holding their hands to their heads as they wandered off the court. The solace? Perhaps the Pats' tye-dye T-shirts worn by coaches and parents throughout the year, the ones that said "No excuses, no regret" on the back.
"We knew they were a great team," Slayton said. "We're just proud of the heart that we demonstrated. They could have crumpled and they fought for every single point."
