Lady Eagles eliminated by Liberty Bell

SOAP LAKE — The Lady Eagles, despite playing with Liberty Bell for much of the match, were ultimately defeated by the Mountain Lions 25-17, 25-19, 25-10 in the first round of the 2B district tournament Thursday.

Soap Lake trailed from the early going in the first game, falling behind 8-2 before taking a time out. Out of the break, the Lady Eagles gave up two more quick points before they put together a rally to get back in the game.

Sammy Marthini earned Soap Lake a sideout with a kill, giving the Lady Eagles and senior Stevie Stamper control of the serve. Soap Lake rattled off five straight points with Stamper serving, the last four coming off serving aces, to close the deficit to 10-8.

"Stevie is definitely our leader," said Soap Lake assistant coach Chelsea Price. "She had one of her better games."

With the score 14-11 in favor of Liberty Bell, the Mountain Lions scored four consecutive points to open up a cushion over Soap Lake. The Lady Eagles rallied yet again, closing to within 17-15 before Liberty Bell pulled away late in the game for a comfortable victory.

In the second game, neither team could hold serve as the two squads traded points and sideouts. Mercedes Franks had a block of a Mountain Lion bump-shot to tie the game at four in the early stages of the game.

"I think both teams started playing much better defense," said Price about the inability of the teams to score when they held serve.

Liberty inched out to an 8-5 lead before Soap Lake came back to even the score at 10. The teams again traded points, with Liberty Bell eventually working their way to a 16-19 lead. Soap Lake narrowed the lead to two on a block by Michelle Marthini.

After a pair of Mountain Lion points and a Liberty Bell serving violation that resulted in a point for Soap Lake, the Lady Eagles found themselves trailing 22-18. Liberty Bell then had a quick kill followed by a point on a long volley to get to game point. After Soap Lake scored to make it 24-19, the Mountain Lions closed out the game by scoring on the next serve.

In the third game, the Lady Eagles quickly fell into a 6-0 hole before charging back with four straight points to make the score 6-4. That would be the last hurrah for Soap Lake however, as Liberty Bell went on a 10-2 scoring run to all but put the match away.

"That was our one burst of energy," said Price. "We just couldn't pull it together after that."

With the score 16-9 in favor of the Mountain Lions, Liberty Bell put together a 9-1 run to end the match and eliminate Soap Lake from post-season play.