Liberty has continued their hot start to the volleyball season, as the Hurricanes have won five straight matches heading into this week’s slate of competition.

The Hurricanes are 5-1, sweeping their last four opponents and look to be part of the upper tier of volleyball hierarchy in District 11 this season.

Head coach Mike Zile isn’t surprised from the start, knowing he had a good amount of experience coming back this spring.

“We have six seniors that have been with us since freshman year,” said Zile. “From my experience it usually takes about three to four years for players to know the game unconsciously where the physical side starts to take over. With last years group we had about 18 on our varsity with 10 seniors. All 18 had about three years experience due to the missed year from COVID where the skill level was fairly comparable across the roster. Last year really laid the ground work for the returners so I am not surprised that they’ve improved the way they have.”

Liberty enters the week against a winless Pocono Mountain West team, but then has a showdown against an undefeated Nazareth (6-0) squad on Thursday.

The Blue Eagles are atop the district power rankings, but haven’t registered any signature wins. If Liberty can pull out a win, it would be signify even more where the ‘Canes stand in the EPC.

“We know Nazareth is a good team,” Zile said. “We do have to treat the match like any other match. There are a lot of areas we are working on improving upon on offense and defense. At the end of the day it’s more about our team.”

Freedom (6-2) got back in the win column over Abington Heights following a pair of losses to Parkland and Whitehall last week.

The Pates have Easton, Pocono Mountain East and Nazareth this week to try and keep their momentum going.

Bethlehem Catholic (0-5) is still looking for their first win of the year and will have a chance at snapping their skid this week when they battle Allen and Pocono Mountain West.