BETHLEHEM — Liberty head coach Fern Torres and Pleasant Valley mentor Drew Dymond both know the path to postseason success in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference volleyball tournament won’t be easy.

It’s tough competition, top to bottom.

But the two head coaches are also well aware that it’s good competition, with some of the best programs in the state, and something that will prepare their teams for the upcoming District 11 tournament — and maybe more.

The Hurricanes continued their tremendous season on Saturday, topping the Bears 25-17, 25-13, 25-14 to secure their 14th straight win and secure a spot in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference semifinals.

“I’m happy with our effort,” said Torres. “We put in some time at practice and tried to prepare for a few things. I think our execution, at times, we could work on that a little bit. I’ll take a win at this point. I’m happy we won. But I know we have a lot of things that we have to work on for our next match.

“I told them, it’s about earning another day at practice to give ourselves a chance to compete, and they earned that. So now we can keep working on some things to get better.”

Seeded third in the tournament, but the top team in the District 11 4A power ratings, Liberty (15-2) turned back a determined effort from sixth-seed Pleasant Valley (12-5), which closed the regular season on a five-match winning streak.

“That was always the goal, can we play better in October than we were in August,” said Dymond, in his first-year leading the Bears program. “And I think that is happening. I couldn’t be more proud of the effort that these girls have put in, really since December. We started back in December and all the way up to this point. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

The first set was tied at 12-12 before the Hurricanes surged ahead, eventually taking a 1-0 lead in the match when Bailey Corrigan finished the set with back-to-back kills.

Corrigan was electric, playing with power and finesse, and finished with 24 kills on 47 attempts (.468 hitting percentage).

“Obviously, most teams are preparing for her, and it adds extra pressure to her, because she knows the defenses are working toward figuring out how they can slow her down,” said Torres. “But she finds a way to put up the numbers, she finds a way to lead her team, whether it’s from the service line, on defense, or offense, she does it all.”

Corrigan added three aces and eight digs to what was a well-rounded performance, one that earned praise from Dymond.

“That’s what we talked about, you have to compete every time that ball goes up in the air,” said Dymond. “I thought early on her (Corrigan) with blocking. But all the credit in the world goes to her; she made every adjustment. She has all the shots, and she adjusted and that ended up being the difference here today.

“And they have a great team over there. But I am proud of the effort of our girls today, and hopefully we can take something from it, and move on and apply it to our district game.”

The momentum of the first set seemed to carry over to the second, as Liberty surged to a 5-0 advantage. The Hurricanes took the set 25-13 to claim a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Bears stayed in the fight, leading early in the third set and holding a 12-11 advantage until a kill from Corrigan tied it and another kill by Aliyah Cruz gave Liberty the lead for good at 13-12.

“It’s important, especially for our younger players to go out and play against great competition like this, and learn from it, apply some of these lessons that we learned here today and move forward,” said Dymond. “Hats off to Liberty, they have a great team. We have a lot of respect for them and what they’ve done this season. We know what the standard is (in the EPC) and we’re going to try to work toward that. That’s what we’re taking away from this.”

UP NEXT ... The Hurricanes will face No. 2 seed Bethlehem Catholic Tuesday in the semis. The Golden Hawks swept Liberty 3-0 on Aug. 29. The other semi features No. 1 Central Catholic and No. 4 Parkland. The undefeated Vikings handed the Hurricanes their other setback this season, 3-0, on Sept. 4.

HIGH PRAISE ... Junior Rylee Ruggiero finished with 11 kills, seven digs and three blocks for the Bears. “We look to Rylee Ruggiero, and she really hit the ball well today,” said Dymond. “I thought she did a great job. Our senior setters I thought did a good job setting her up, getting her the ball. Laura Ballek stands out as well, she hit the ball well. I couldn’t be more proud of their effort today.”

Pleasant Valley 17 13 14

Liberty 25 25 25

Stat leaders: Pleasant Valley - Rylee Ruggiero 11 kills, 7 digs, 3 blocks; Laura Ballek 16 digs, 4 kills, 1 assist, 1 ace; Alexis Wilkes 7 assists, 6 digs, 1 ace; Ali Snyder 4 assists, 3 digs; Amiyah Poliseno 8 digs, 1 assist; Liberty - Bailey Corrigan 24 kills, 8 digs, 3 aces; Malena Sabol 10 kills; Abigail Schessler 18 digs; Ava Panik 12 digs.