LHS Volleyball Team Anxious to Prove Doubters Wrong

Liberal’s 2021 volleyball team is motivated.  Listen to the audio below before a practice this week and you can hear it in their voices.  Liberal is ready to prove that they can play winning volleyball despite their lack of size.  Plus, they are trying to turn their program around.  They have been 14-18, 16-21, 18-19, and 15-20 the past four seasons and haven’t had a winning season since 2016 when they were 17-16.  They have had losing records in six of their last seven season since after they went 97-57 in four years under Thais Baziquetto from 2010-2013.  Their last state appearance was 2008 when they went 29-12 and last won WAC in 2008 after also winning the conference in 2007(32-7)  and 2006 (31-5).

Enter alumnus Katie Garcia who will try to instill her energy into the program after one year as an assistant coach under Megan Besecker who left for Emporia State.  Garcia is a 2014 graduate of LHS where she was a member of the LHS volleyball team. She went on to play volleyball at Dodge City Community College. While playing at DCCC she received multiple awards among them were the “Most Inspirational” and the “Character Award” for the volleyball team.  Garcia has been working hard with the team on blocking leading into their opener.  They have been practicing at east campus as a new net system is being installed in the Big House.

Liberal loses all WAC players Aubrey Warden and Logan Dodge but returns 2nd team all WAC Sr. Bree Horyna.  Key rotation players for Liberal are Sr. Emma Evans, Sr. Maizie Morris, Jr. Lizzy Cisneros, Jr. Rylee Hallman, Jr. Rachelle Terrazas, Jr. Jenna Ormiston, So. Ellee Hatcher, and So. Paris Bond.

The team was featured during the Sportsguys on Friday morning.  They open at Hutchinson Saturday with five matches.