Liberty’s volleyball team hopes that athleticism and development will pay off for the team this spring as they hop back onto the court after a year layoff.

The Hurricanes, led by head coach Mike Zile, have a quality mix of newcomers and veterans that should make a run for the postseason.

Returning players include Brandon Achey, Joey Rachwal, Cesar Acosta, Andrew Allred, Cody Trauger, Naseem Younes, Chastin Bullard, Elden Campbell, and Matt Gonzalez.

The most notable newcomer is junior, Owen McFadden, a transfer from Bethlehem Catholic. He recently made the USA Volleyball Keystone Region High Performance team as a middle hitter.

“We have a relatively young and talented team with a mixture of a few key experienced leaders,” said Zile. “We have a few underclassmen with playing experience that will be called upon to help out with varsity. Seniors, Brandon Achey and Joey Rachwal, both have seven years of volleyball experience and have the task of leading a young group with experienced newcomer Owen McFadden. Naseem Younes is the setter and has experience playing club volleyball for the Hurricanes club and most recently for Velocity over the winter. Cody Trauger is a key returner with playing experience. Other players with club volleyball experience are sophomore Matt Gonzalez and freshmen Cristian Matos and Adam Mittl. Both Matt and Cristian have setting experience and have already filled in. Although a freshman, Adam Mittl has seven years of club volleyball experience where he will provide support to varsity.”

While qualifying for the East Penn Conference and District 11 tournament is always a goal for the program, navigating through this season will be a bigger challenge.

“We have some other talented young players on the roster where we will be getting them to push the upperclassmen early than expected since we only have a handful of experienced upperclassmen,” said Zile. “The key this season will be establishing the offensive system. At the varsity level hitting is very important. If you have a great offense your defense will be tested day in and day out. Since we have a mixture of young players we will have to be patient since developing strong hitting takes time. Right now we are trying to find the best combinations to side out the most effectively in each rotation.”