Olivia Prickett is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Liberty High School for AZPreps365.com

It was an electric matchup between two top five 6A ranked teams, the Liberty Lions and the Sandra Day O’Connor Eagles in Peoria on Wednesday night. 

The Lions came into this match the underdogs to the Eagles. Undefeated in region, the Eagles hold a spot at number one in 6A Desert Valley while the Lions closely trail at number two with a 4-1 record. 

Both teams came into the first set with a lot of energy and at a high level of play. The Lions started with the serve but the Eagles were the first to put a kill on the board to end the two-point service run. This marked the beginning of the Eagles’ momentum as they held a lead the entire first set. 

But this didn’t deter the Lions’ fight as they trailed by just a few points behind the Eagles.

The Lions were running a seamless 6-2 offense with junior setter Mattie Burgess and senior setter Tristen Raymond. Their connections to their pin hitters were consistent and proved crucial in their overall success throughout the night despite the loss. 

One standout player on the night for the Lions was sophomore outside #4 Lauren Forelli who led the offense with 19 kills. She was a powerhouse on the left side that kept the Eagles’ defense on their toes. 

“For her to be only a sophomore and to be able to rise to these occasions… She enables our team to just continue to go,” Head Coach Chris Brown said. “Especially going against the big block over there, she held her own.” 

Following the loss of set one with a close score of 21-25, Forelli started off set two with a kill which set the tone for the remainder of the set. The Lions’ came alive early on to take the lead after being fueled by frustration from unlucky referee calls, an issue that was prominent through all four sets. 

Finding themselves in a 10-point lead with help from a service run by Raymond, the Lions forced the Eagles to take a timeout in an effort to regroup. The Lions’ offense kept firing from the pins with junior right side Makenna Kowren’s back-to-back kills and Forelli’s game-winning cross-court kill. 

The Lions took set two from the Eagles. This is the only set where they were able to come out on top. 

From the get-go, the Eagles proved to be a strong defensive team with spectacular one-handed diving plays by freshman libero Annabelle  Cummings, but it wasn’t until the third set when the front line exerted its dominance.

With four consistent blocks all across the board to halt the Lions’ offense, that only pushed the Lions to come out with a higher energy level not only on the court but on the sideline as well following a short delay of the game after senior libero  Ella Petchu got hit in the face by a kill from Eagles’ powerhouse senior outside Devyn Weist. 

Raymond’s connection to Kowren on the right side allowed them to close the gap, crawling their way up at the end of the set before falling short by just four points in a similar fashion to set one with the score, 21-25. 

For the fourth consecutive set, the Lions were able to get on the board first. Kowren took the reins for the Lions’ offensive effort in this final set, finishing with an impressive 12 kills on the night.

However, the night didn’t end in a typical fashion. Throughout the night, both sides faced adversity with unlucky referee calls and it was in set four where not only the Lions’ Head Coach Chris Brown had enough, but the players did as well.

Raymond, an important leader on the court had to find a way to keep her teammates in a positive groove to combat the unfavorable calls. 

“I just reminded us to reset, move on, and get the next play,” Raymond said.  

To wrap up the night, Brown was issued a yellow card after expressing his frustration on a certain call at the line which was shortly followed by an issued red card. This ultimately ended the game after the call was overturned in favor of the Eagles to end the game, the Eagles taking home the win three sets to one and extending their undefeated winning streak to seven. 

Although the Lions walk away from this game with a loss and a new region record of 4-2, they have their eyes set on the positives as they reach the end of regular season play and take on playoffs at the beginning of November. 

“I think it’s just important to bounce back and realize that losses are going to happen and it’s just about how positive our mindset is,” Forelli said. “We need to compete without a worry in the world about what happened in the past, the future, just here and now this is what’s happening.”