LIBERTY LEAVES CAMPBELL AS THE VICTORS

CAMPBELL OH- The Liberty Leopards and the Campbell Memorial Red Devils came into the night about as even as could be. They were placed next to one another in every single ranking. The back-and-forthbattle between the two proved that this was no fluke. Thursday’sgame saw the Leopards take a game in four sets for the first time this season. They were led throughout the night by their Libero in Gabby Ranalli who continued to make the effort plays all night long.

In set one of the night the Leopards were the first to jump out to a lead. They were led by Gabby Ranalli and Demi Watson who helped hold on to the small lead for the entire set before those effort plays came back in and Liberty closed out the set on a late run to win 25-16.

Set two was the best of the night as the two teams traded the lead more than five times and Liberty was looking like they were going to close out the set once again after Chloe Fleps earned a handful of aces to set them up 20-16. But then Abigail Diaz of Campbell would absolutely let loose, playing every ball perfectly and pulling her team on a 9-2 run to steal the set away from the leading Leopards 25-22.

Campbell hasn’t experienced many close games like this on the season and after the second set they seemed a little out of energy after the big comeback. Liberty once again led by Ranalli, and this time joined by some excellent play by Mia Parker would dominate the third set. They allowed just eight points and ran away with it 25-8.

Set four and Campbell got a second wind and once again made things competitive. The lead continued to switch hands with the score being tied for the majority of the set. Liberty took a late lead as they lead 23-20, but the Red Devils put together an epic final run and pushed the game back to tied. But then Lexi Muck, who had put together a stellar night at the net collecting block after block but had been relatively quiet compared to her previous outings closed out the game. From 23-23 Lexi Muck would fly above the net to spike the ball down hard to give the Leopards the lead and then earn the game winning block to win 25-23 over Campbell in the fourth set.

Kelly Barley and her Leopards improved to (4-4) on the season and picked up their second win in conference play. The Leopards will be in action three times next week as they play host Warren G. Harding on Tuesday, Champion on Wednesday, and Crestview on Thursday. Campbell drops back to (4-5) on the season after picking up their fifth loss in conference play. They will travel on the road for two of their three matchups next week as they play on the road against Newton Falls on Tuesday, Youngstown East at home on Wednesday, and once again on the road in Brookfield.

*Contributed By YSN’s Alek Koberna