The question looms over Xavier Prep’s volleyball program like a big monsoon cloud after a surprising 3-0 sweep at the hands of visiting Peoria Liberty in XCP’s season and home opener at the Activity Center on Tuesday night (Aug. 30). Scores were 25-19, 27-25 and 25-18.
So where do
the Gators go from here?
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Xavier volleyball front-liners Finley Workman (13), left, and Camilla Cornejo-Farmer (2) right, attempt to block a return by Liberty opponent (Photos by Sr. Lynn Winsor). |
It will be up to Xavier’s players and whether they can follow the instructions of head coach Lamar-Renee Bryant and her assistants.
Initially,
the Gators will need to have a short-term memory because they travel to face
host Gilbert High on Wednesday night (Aug. 31) at 6.
So where do
they go from here?
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Xavier's volleyball team lines up for the National Anthem before match vs. Peoria Liberty. |
There were so many concerns that Bryant could toss a dart toward a bulletin board and wherever it landed, it would be a good place to start.
“They
(Liberty) beat us in every facet of the game,’’ she said. “They outserved us,
they outattacked us, they outpassed us and outblocked us.
“We don’t
want to have this feeling again.’’
Liberty,
which was the No. 7 seed in last season’s 6A Conference state tournament, fell
to eventual state champion Chandler Hamilton in the quarterfinals. Xavier, the
No. 6 seed, fell to Hamilton in the semifinals.
Xavier had
played fairly well against Hamilton, Chandler Basha and Phoenix Sunnyslope in
an annual four-team scrimmage last week at Hamilton.
Could it
have given the Gators a false sense of security?
“Last week, those teams were not among the top four in the state,’’ Bryant
said.
After a
25-19 setback to Liberty in the match’s opening game, Xavier showed some signs
of life in the second game and took it down to the wire and a bit beyond,
falling to the Lions 27-25. Had the Gators won that one, things might have been
different in Game 3.
Xavier had a
17-12 lead in Game 2, but Liberty battled back. In Game 3. Liberty was in
control, particularly after scoring the first eight points of the contest and
won 25-18.