John Yanek is no stranger to big wins on the volleyball court. Getting one in your regular season finale against your city rival made last week’s win over Liberty in five games even sweeter.

The Patriots (10-8) battled back from a two set hole to win three straight against the Hurricanes to give them a boost heading to this week’s EPC tournament.

The win cemented Freedom as the sixth and final seed in the EPC bracket, as they took on third-seeded Nazareth (17-3) in Tuesday’s quarterfinal round.

“It was the biggest win of the season,” said Yanek of topping Liberty. “It has built our confidence and beliefs. The team feels they have a new lease on the season. They are working hard on becoming confident that no team can beat us if we stick to our philosophy and game plans.”

Freedom will need that belief system after getting swept by Nazareth twice already this year. Liberty (10-5), on the other hand, looks to regroup, as the Hurricanes get back in gear with an EPC quarterfinal against Whitehall in a four-five showdown at Memorial Gymnasium on Tuesday.

The ‘Canes have dropped two straight to end the regular season and look to right the ship against an always dangerous Whitehall (12-6) team, who have won eight of their last nine matches.

Conference semifinals are slated for Thursday at Allen with second-seeded Emmaus (15-1) taking on the Freedom/Nazareth winner at 5 p.m. Thursday’s nightcap includes top-seeded Parkland awaiting the winner of the Liberty-Whitehall showdown.

Bethlehem Catholic (4-13) will have a few weeks to sharpen their skill in the District 11 2A tournament, where all four teams in the class qualified.

Head coach Tim Sledz just wants to use the time most efficiently with the long layoff.

“With the way the playoff schedule works this year, there will be 17 days between our last match and our first round of playoffs,” he said. “That is a long layoff. It will be a challenge to keep the boys focused during that entire period. We hope we can get some alumni to come in to play against them to keep them sharp. The boys are looking forward to competing in districts after several years of not qualifying, so that should help to keep them driven.”