LYNCHBURG, VA – LMU women's volleyball won both matches on Saturday to move to 3-0 on the weekend and claim the championship of the Liberty Invitational. The Lions started the afternoon with a three-set win over Navy, 25-20, 25-18, 26-22. LMU closed out the tournament with a 25-19, 19-25, 25-18, 25-12 win over the hosts Liberty in the nightcap of the event.
After falling behind 4-3 early in the opening set of the Navy match, LMU strung together a run of five consecutive points to take a lead that would hold until the Mids eventually went back up two points, 19-17. From that point, LMU scored the next five points and eight of the final to take the early advantage.
A quick start in the second set, gave LMU the 8-2 edge. The Lions doubled up Navy at 10-5 and 16-8, before ultimately taking the set by seven.
The Lions erased a 4-3 deficit to push ahead 7-4 with four straight points. Once Navy tied the game at 9-9, LMU scored six straight points capped by back-to-back aces by
Mary Shroll. The Mids cut it to a one-point game, 22-21, but LMU never surrendered the lead again to take the match.
LMU had the match's three top kill leaders with
Kari Geissberger (14),
Rose Booth (12), and
Audrey Klemp (11) each hitting double-digits.
Isabella Bareford tripled the next closest assist leader with 36 over the three sets. Shroll led the way with 13 digs and three service aces.
With minimal rest time between games, the Lions fell behind 6-1 and 11-4 in the opening set to Liberty. An
Ella Boehle ace, to give LMU 16 points, tied the score for the first time since 1-1. From that point, the Lions closed out the set with nine of the final 11 points.
The second set was flipped as LMU jumped ahead early 7-3 only to have a Liberty 10-0 run later in the set give the Flames the lead. The Lions brought it within three points down the stretch before Liberty took the set, the only dropped set of the weekend for LMU.
A Geissberger kill forced a Liberty timeout with the score 16-10 LMU in the third set. The Flames cut it to 17-14 coming out of the stoppage in play, but the Lions then responded with the next five points, including three consecutive Geissberger aces to push ahead 22-14, before ultimately taking the set.
The Lions controlled the final set jumping ahead 7-2, 13-5, and 16-6. With Liberty within eight, LMU closed out the match with the final five points to take the tournament crown. The Lions recorded a .706 hitting percentage in the final set with no errors.
Bareford was named tournament MVP with 35 assists in the final match. Geissberger added 17 assists in the win, with Booth totaling a dozen.
Following three road tournaments to open the year, the Lions will make their home debuts on Thursday at Gersten Pavilion with a 5:00 PM match against Cal Poly.
