ARGYLE — As the Argyle Lady Eagles huddled before the fifth and decisive game Tuesday against Liberty Christian, head coach Clark Oberle was brutally honest with his team.

DRC/Gary Payne

Liberty Christian’s Tally Blair, left, watches as Argyle’s Jessica Bonfield passes the ball during Tuesday’s non-district match in Argyle.

After Argyle rolled to wins in Games 1 and 2, the Lady Eagles allowed Liberty Christian to snatch back the momentum in winning Games 3 and 4, and Oberle explained the situation.

“It’s really rare [to come back after losing two games in a row],” Oberle said. “I told [the team], ‘The odds are definitely against us. [Liberty] got all the momentum.”

Even so, Argyle was able to win Game 5 and the match, 25-21, 25-20, 19-25, 22-25, 15-10.

The first two games of the match seemed to point toward an Argyle sweep, as the Lady Warriors (7-6) didn’t have a single lead until midway through Game 3.

Though Liberty head coach Lisa Deaver isn’t one to make excuses, the Lady Warriors were playing severely short-handed, missing the services of three starters, most notably Kristen Goodspeed, who injured her knee in practice Monday and was awaiting results of an MRI. Goodspeed is the team’s most lethal server.

“We were a little short-handed,” said Deaver. “But we can’t make any excuses. They [Argyle] played an awesome game. We just had a few key errors at key times. I was impressed with every level of [Argyle’s] play though. I was proud of them. They will have a great season.

“It came down to the fact that we had to make some last-minute adjustments [due to injuries] and have girls playing in different roles, and it just took us a while to catch on.”

Once Liberty caught on, the Lady Warriors seemed to be a different team, taking the next two games with relative ease.

DRC/Gary Payne

Liberty Christian’s Madison Middle, left, tries to block a shot by Argyle’s Katie McKinney.

“We played really strong for the first two games,” Oberle said. “We forced them to make some mistakes, but in Game 3, both of their middle hitters [Whitney Hand and Tally Blair] started playing better and really were making things tough on us.”

One key aspect of Argyle’s win was the fact that the Lady Eagles jumped out to quick leads in all of the games except Game 4.

Kirstie Wade led Argyle (7-6) offensively with 14 kills, and Bailey O’Brien added nine. Junior setter Jessica Bonfield, who at 5-11 is a rare weapon at her position who can play on all spots on the floor, dished out 26 assists. Senior libero Bradleigh Lowry led the Lady Eagles’ defensive effort with 28 digs.

Both teams will begin play Thursday in Argyle’s tournament.

ADAM BOEDEKER can be reached at 940-566-6872. His e-mail address is aboedeker@dentonrc.com