The East Penn Conference volleyball scene has more parody this season than most years and Liberty is right in the mix.

The Hurricanes (8-3) have gone through some challenges over the past two weeks, putting a dent in their overall record with losses to Nazareth and Emmaus, but the lessons that come with the defeats are what head coach Mike Zile hopes pays dividends when the postseason rolls around.

“The losses to Emmaus and Nazareth let us know we’ve got to work on our team defense more and it starts with the serve,” Zile said. “Serve and serve receive is a silent killer for teams. Teams can look either really good or bad when it’s on or off. The better teams in the league will take advantage when there are inconsistencies there.”

Liberty took Nazareth to five games and played Emmaus to four games before dropping both of those contests against two of the top teams in the conference this season. Liberty was one of only three teams to steal a game from the undefeated Hornets (12-0) this season and followed that up with a win over rival Freedom in four games last week.

“I think we are on the right track with what we are working on,” said Zile. “We settled down against Emmaus and played well in the second half of that match. Freedom is always a tough opponent. We played well against them and finished the match sharp with better defense and serving. We know all of these teams will be even better next time we see them so we need to keep staying ahead of our players and preparing them for how to elevate the playing level further.”

Staying in the top tier of the conference is important for Liberty to qualify for the EPC tournament.

With only six teams making the conference playoffs, Liberty is right on the cusp with Northampton (8-5), as both squads have three conference losses.

Finishing out the league schedule strong is imperative for Liberty to stay fresh down the stretch.

“Right now we are in contention for EPC playoffs,” Zile said. “There’s a long layoff of nearly 20 days between end of regular season and District 11 playoffs. It’s important to us to qualify for EPC’s so we get valuable reps to prepare for districts. I think we are definitely one of the contenders for EPC’s.”

Liberty’s Cristian Matos reached a milestone last week, eclipsing 2,000 career assists and Adam Mittl recently was announced to the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s All-America watchlist along with 517 seniors across the country. Being on the watchlist gives Mittl the opportunity to make the first or second All-America team at the end of the season.

Liberty took on a tough Exeter team on Monday night and close out the week against Dieruff and Bethlehem Catholic.