PG in Five
Lady Hawks spoil Liberty-Eylau’s Senior Night
The volleyball rode the wave of the fans’ roar throughout five sets, and the winner finally emerged.
Pleasant Grove spoiled Senior Night for Liberty-Eylau as it won in a thriller, 20-25, 25-21, 25-20, 19-25, 15-5, at the Rader Dome Tuesday.
Earlier in the season Pleasant Grove swept L-E at home, but this match came down to the wire and Hawks’ head coach Amy Collvins was proud of what her team did.
“Usually whenever we go to game a fifth set I always tell them that we are used to this,” Collvins said. “They took care of business from the beginning and remained focus. Hats off to L-E; they have certainly improved since the last time we played them.”
Before the match was set to begin the Liberty-Eylau and Pleasant Grove communities took a moment to celebrate breast cancer awareness and honored survivors who were in the stands.
In the first set the Lady Leopards and Lady Hawks battled back and forth. Pleasant Grove opened up with a 7-3 run. The Leopards fought back and tied the match at 20. L-E used the momentum and went on a 5-0 run to win the set.
There were 11 ties in the second set, and PG answered right back to win due multiple hitting errors by L-E.
Britton Anderson stole the show in the third set for the Hawks.
Anderson had five kills and one ace in the set and PG took back the lead in sets, 2-1.
With the Leopards losing momentum coach Alicia Stewart had a message for the Leopards on how to get back in the match.
“I told them it’s not over,” Stewart said. “We knew and believed that we could win. All we had to do is let the past be the past.”
Stewart’s talk worked and the Leopards dominated in the fourth set by jumping out to a 14-3 lead. The Leopards had 11 kills in the set, and Kaliyah Thompson had an ace to secure the set victory.
Going into the fifth set L-E had the momentum, but Pleasant Grove showed why it is the second ranked team in District 15-4A.
Pleasant Grove went on a 8-1 run and never looked back. L-E had communication issues on the court and were never able to pull it together. PG went on to earn its seventh win in district.
Senior Miahja Givans led the Leopards with 13 kills and had six blocks. Maya Polley had 12 kills and eight blocks. Rynesha Fort led the team with 50 assists.
Chelsea Fagan smacked 13 kills, and junior libero Adrianna Byrd had 53 digs and 42 service points for Liberty-Eylau.
Britton Anderson had 14 points and nine kills for the Hawks. Blair Smith led the Hawks with 24 digs. Brette Wacha and Carley Barrett and eight blocks. Faith Lipham and Anna Miller had nine assist each.
With both teams already clinching playoff spots both coaches knew that a match like this would be a confidence builder for the playoffs.
“When you can win in five sets playing a top opponent like L-E in our district, it gives us confidence for the playoffs,” Collvins said.
“I am really proud of my girls and what we did tonight,” Stewart said. “We have improved a lot since the last time we played PG and this game will give us confidence going into in the playoffs.”
Pleasant Grove junior varsity swept Liberty-Eylau, 25-7, 25-14. The Hawks’ freshmen also won in straight sets, 25-13, 26-24.