Liberty's girls swimming team knew that last year's tie with Emmaus was good, but an all-out victory would be better, so the Hurricanes took first place in eight events, surviving close calls in five, to score a 99-87 victory over the Hornets last Thursday.

"Especially because we tied last year, we were so excited the week before. [Defeating Emmaus] was one of our main goals," said Liberty senior, Rachel Rider.

Rider was first in the water for the Hurricanes, leading off in the 200 medley relay, the first event of the day.

"I didn't want to let my team down, and I wanted to give my team the lead," she said.

Julia McCarthy was in the water next, followed by Emily Cecchini, and Kayla Drago, who out-touched Emmaus's Brooke Vanim for the Hurricane win with a time of 1:55.07. Emmaus's time was 1:55.97.

"I think it set the tone for the rest of the meet, and the streak continued. We won all the events except four," said Rider.

Liberty's Jocelyn Baker won the 200 free in 2:00.85, and Emmaus's Natalie Schaeffer placed second in 2:00.93. Drago won the 100 free in 55.29, and Emmaus's Casey Young placed second in 55.39.

Rider had two close races of her own, winning the 100 butterfly in 1:02.03, out-touching Emmaus's Claire Frank, who was second in 1:02.66, and winning the 100 backstroke in 1:01.43, out-touching Emmaus's Tori Bingham, who was second in 1:02.22.

Rider said, "I was really nervous [in the fly]. It's one of my favorite events. On the third turn, I saw I was ahead, and that was motivating. [In the backstroke] I was nervous for that too because in the medley relay, I had barely beat the girl in their medley relay. I just focused on that one."

In other individual events, Baker took first place in the 500 free in 5:18.88, and McCarthy took first place in the 200 IM in 2:13.59.

As the meet began to wind down, the Hurricanes realized they would need to win the final event of the day, the 400 free relay, or take second and third place in the same event to guarantee the victory over the Hornets.

"That was a lot of pressure," said Rider.

Rising to the occasion, Drago, Anita Kundu, Baker, and McCarthy won the 400 free relay by almost five seconds, with a time of 3:45.65.

"We couldn't believe it. That was our last home meet, so that was a good way to end it,' Rider said.

On Wednesday, the Hurricanes will visit the Freedom Patriots for arguably the friendliest rivalry matchup in Bethlehem. This meet was moved up a day because of potential for snow Thursday.