Liberty volleyball falls short of state tournament
Published 12:00 pm Friday, November 21, 2025
The end of a season never arrives when it’s expected, and only one team technically can go home happy as the state champions. For Liberty High School volleyball, their season ended one game shy of the state tournament and was a much sooner exit than expected.
Liberty under Head Coach Shea O’Brien has become a wrecking ball as far as the KingCo League is concerned. The Patriots have made the trip to Yakima in O’Brien’s first two seasons and had brought home hardware both seasons.
This year, that dream was cut short as the Bellevue Wolverines eliminated the Patriots in four sets (3-1) on their home court on Nov. 15.
“It was overwhelming sadness. I think we got lucky to end our season on a high note the last couple seasons. I think that ending it on our home court against a team we knew so well and in the right circumstances, it was so close to go the other way. It was overwhelming sadness that our season had to end like that,” O’Brien said.
It was the third time Liberty had played Bellevue this season and the second time in the postseason, with their other match in the KingCo Championship back on Nov. 8.
Liberty was given the number four seed to start the District 2 tournament and took on Bishop Blanchet in a winner-to-state game for the third straight year. In the two previous years, Liberty had defeated the Bears in straight sets. But this year was a different story. It took a lot for Liberty to compete with the Bears, who ended up beating the Patriots in five sets.
In the aux gym at Lakeside High School, the two sides were locked in a “deja vu all over again” scenario for the third straight year. But Liberty just couldn’t find their edge that they had relied on the previous two years.
The two sides split the first two sets and Blanchet took the third set, putting Liberty under the gun against the Bears. To their credit, Liberty battled back and won the fourth set to push the match to a fifth set tiebreaker.
Blanchet outlasted the Patriots to win that match, meaning they needed to beat Holy Names Academy and Bellevue (who needed to beat Mercer Island) for the opportunity to return to the state tournament. They needed to rely on their chemistry that has been built on and off the court to find that fight.
“I saw a group of girls that really loves playing volleyball and being with each other. This year, compared to last year we are a much closer group. Everyday at practice there were smiles and laughs and I think that has got us to where we are now,” Espinosa said. “We wanted to leave it all on the court and have no regrets. After the Blanchet game we were really disappointed, but that just means we had to fight harder,” Charlize Espinosa said.
The Patriots opened with a bit of a scare against Holy Names as the Cougars snagged the second set against Liberty. But the Patriots responded better than they had all postseason and played possibly their best two sets back-to-back.
“In the beginning we were really hesitant and timid. But once we figured them out it was all gas,” Espinosa said.
Heading into their final match with Bellevue, Liberty had gotten a surprise contribution from an unlikely source. Stella Tselnik, a freshman setter, was thrown into the action against Blanchet, and up until that point had played less than half a set all season. But O’Brien needed a spark and for the last three games of the season, Tselnik was that spark.
“I couldn’t be more impressed by her, especially seeing how hard she works,” O’Brien said. “Something needed to change (against Blanchet) and she was my first option because she has a good connection with Julianne [Lee] and Charlize. She also brings a positive energy,” O’Brien said.
The momentum against Holy Names carried into the first set against Bellevue, but that was all the Patriots could squeeze out of the Wolverines. Liberty won the first set 25-18, but lost the next two sets 25-22 and then were sent home by a score of 25-18 in the fourth set.
Bellevue plays such a difficult and frustrating style of volleyball, where they just don’t give up easy points. They play possibly some of the best defense in the state. “Bellevue has always been our toughest competition, even from my freshman year. It’s just their style of play. I’ve played club with Kaitlyn (Nguyen) and Juleah (Leapai) and they are both really talented players, and having those two on the team really challenges us,” Espinosa said.
What hurt even more was not the fact that they fell short of the state tournament, or the fact that Bellevue has beaten them three out of the last four times, but that it happened at home. It happened on the court that Charlize Espinosa and Julianne Lee have dominated throughout their four-year varsity careers.
“Me and J have been here since freshman year and I have seen the ups and the downs. Tonight was a really hard night for both of us,” Espinosa said.
The seniors were pivotal in O’Brien turning around the program and getting Liberty to be a permanent resident at the top of the standings for the last three years.
“Julianne and Charlize have been on varsity for four years and turning the program around was dependent on both of them. They both played huge roles in that. Julianne’s dedication off the court was unmatched and Charlize on the court is such a natural leader,” O’Briend said.
But now the future rests on the shoulders of Hayden Quinto, Gabriella Catherall and Alicia Lester, who will all be entering their senior seasons. Madelyn Huey and Tselnik will also be just as important for the years to come as their roles will play a larger and larger part.
“Seeing how well Hayden has done is exciting. Having Gabby for another year is exciting. Alecia had the best day of her life on Saturday, I thought. She played great offensively and defensively and she was battling injuries all season long. Having her healthy for a full season will be exciting too. I just think next year we’ll have a different team, but we’ll still have a lot of talent,” O’Brien said.
