There are certain dates on the calendar that teams circle before the season or as the days pass during a campaign.

This Thursday is one of those for Liberty’s volleyball team, as the Hurricanes enter a road showdown against Emmaus.

It’s a matchup that will pit the top two undefeated teams in District 11, with the top spot in the East Penn Conference and the D11 4A power ratings on the line.

For Liberty head coach Connor Swigart, it’s a night that everyone will be looking forward to.

“Emmaus is going to be a big match for both squads at the end of a physically and emotional exhausting week,” Swigart said. “We are both ranked in the top 10 of the state, so whenever those matches happen, it’s exciting to see where we are doing well and what we need to improve on.”

The heavyweight battle will be the last one in a long week for the ‘Canes (7-0), as they have three straight days of contests heading into Thursday night.

With Freedom, Southern Lehigh and Allen on deck this week, managing each match will be a task in itself going into Thursday.

“It will certainly test our conditioning, depth and grit as a team,” Swigart said. “Freedom is always emotionally taxing due to the rivalry and they have gotten the better of us the past few years, so we want to change that. Southern Lehigh is a very young and talented team so they will always give us a good fight.”

With the real fight coming against the Hornets (8-0), Swigart knows he’ll need his team’s best effort from the start to gain an upper hand in the match.

“We saw them in a tournament so we have an idea of what they like to do, but that was then and this is now,” he said. “We have to take it one point at a time. Their gym is very loud so we want to be the ones dictating energy and play.”

Bethlehem Catholic (5-3) is atop the D11 3A power rankings despite falling to Central Catholic last week in five games.

With matches against Dieruff and Whitehall this week, the Hawks shouldn’t have any issues piling up two more wins in their column.

Freedom (3-4) kept their postseason hopes alive with two straight wins last week, sweeping Dieruff and East Stroudsburg North.

The Pates now have a brutal week with Liberty, Central Catholic (4-3) and Nazareth (6-2) on tap.