Fittingly, it was Liberty's Gilberto Figueroa who took a perfectly placed set from Hurricanes teammate Adam Hann, leapt high into the air and above the net, took a big windmill swing and slammed down the clinching kill onto the Memorial Gymnasium court.

Figueroa was on fire. He was also clutch.

Liberty captured the fourth and fifth sets against perennial power Emmaus to rally for a key victory in Thursday evening's Lehigh Valley Conference volleyball match between championship contenders. The Hurricanes prevailed 21-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 15-10.

Coach Neiad Ammary's squad improved to 8-2 overall and 7-1 in the conference. Emmaus is now 8-2 and 6-2.

A junior who came to the United States from Puerto Rico prior the school year, Figueroa finished off both the tying and go-ahead points in the decisive final game. His first kill tied the set at 9 and his second put Liberty ahead to stay at 10-9.

The Hurricanes scored six straight points to open a 14-9 lead. Figueroa then ended it in style.

"My Achilles tendon is bothering me," he said, "so I tend to start slow. But once I was confident in the foot, I started to feel really strong. I've got to give credit to my teammates, though, especially Adam Hann. He made very good decisions and very good sets. We're like a big family, everyone works together."

"Gilberto played very, very well in the offseason," Ammary said. "But his grades were low and I suspended him about a month before the season started. Then he had heart surgery and was out a couple more weeks. He's just getting back to the level he's capable of playing at."

Figueroa had plenty of help from his more experienced teammates.

Hann, a senior, finished with 52 assists. Senior Ryan Holzer produced 13 kills and three aces, and played particularly well in the second-set victory for Liberty. Senior Zach Gallagher had 10 kills and eight aces, including five consecutive service points during the fifth-set spurt.

Original post:

Liberty edges Emmaus in LVC boys volleyball