BY ZACH EWING Californian staff writer zewing@bakersfield.com Tuesday, Nov 13 2012 09:58 PM

Liberty's volleyball team is one match away from capturing its white whale: A Central Section Division I championship.

And that whale has no chance if Liberty performs like it did Tuesday: A focused, aggressive, precise effort that resulted in a three-game sweep of Centennial, 25-19, 25-18, 25-20.

"We have been preparing for this since the first day of practice," senior Kiki Robinson said. "We knew we had to come out swinging. We came out fired up. We did what we had to do."

The top-seeded Patriots (26-6) now play host to No. 2 Clovis West at 7 p.m. Thursday in the D-I final. The teams have split two earlier meetings: A four-game victory at home for the Patriots, followed by Clovis West's 2-1 win in a best-of-three tournament match at Torrey Pines.

"In my four years, I've never been in the Valley (final), but we've always talked about it," Robinson said. "It's the most exciting thing in the world right now."

Liberty volleyball has accomplished much in the school's 12-year history, including a Division II state championship in 2002, but one thing the Patriots haven't done is win the D-I section title. They came close in 2008, losing in four games at Clovis West.

"It would be huge," Liberty coach Lean Slayton said. "We have 11 seniors on this team, and a lot of them have been here for four years. We've talked about this for a long time, so I think we're hungry for it."

And this time, Liberty will be at home, where they were all but flawless against rival Centennial (21-11), the No. 4 seed. The Patriots scored the first eight points of the match and led 13-3 in Game 1 before Centennial recovered.

"They just wouldn't let the ball hit the floor," Centennial coach Brooke Roberts said. "They're a great team, and they'll be a great representative of our area in the Valley championship."

Originally posted here:

Liberty sweeps way into final