It’s the one almost every first-year coach aims to achieve during that initial season, and unfortunately for Hayden, accomplishing the feat can take time.

“You have to get the kids to buy in to what you’re trying to sell,” said Hayden of what it takes to implement a new style and mindset in the first year. “They haven’t done that yet, but it’s starting to click now that we’re in the second half of the season. Hopefully we keep the momentum up, and we keep pushing.”

Tuesday was another learning experience for the Leopards, who twice rallied but couldn’t overcome LaBrae in a 3-0 All-American Conference, Blue Tier loss at Liberty High School.

As usual, momentum was the name of the game, and the Vikings (8-7, 6-3) had it from the start.

LaBrae took scored the first six points, prompting a timeout by Hayden. The Leopards (9-6) responded by slowly chipping away at a lead that reached 11-3. The problem was, every time they got close, the Vikings went on a run.

Liberty was within four at 14-10 when LaBrae started to find its groove — eventually going up 24-15. That’s when an unexpected Leopards’ rally began. They scored seven consecutive points and were within striking distance at 24-22, but the Vikings finally closed the deal when a ball was hit into the net by Liberty for a 25-22 LaBrae victory.

“We have a lot of fighters on the team,” Hayden said. “We just have to make better decisions when we’re out there on the court, and that will come with time. We’re headed in the right direction.”

It was hard to tell in a brutal second set.

The Vikings dominated from start to finish, taking a 2-0 lead with a 25-9 victory. Liberty woke up in the third set and played its best volleyball of the night. LaBrae again started off hot, earning an 11-5 advantage. Similar to the first set, the Leopards chipped away and finally took their first lead of the night, going up 16-15.

The game went back and forth from there, with eight ties and five different lead changes the rest of the way. Liberty appeared ready to take its first set and get back into the match at 24-23, but the Vikings showed some resiliency. Lone senior Jenna Reppart (5 aces, 6 kills, 4 blocks, 6 digs) made key plays down the stretch as LaBrae scored three straight for a 26-24 win.

“She can really pound the ball,” said LaBrae coach Courtney Kish of the hard-hitting senior. “If we can get her going, she’s our ticket. But we always talk about, ‘We have to get the pass. We have to get the pass.’ From the beginning of the year, we said we had to get better passes so we can get our system going.”

That’s a still a work in progress for the Leopards.

While the loss was disappointing for Liberty, which had won four of its last five matches, Hayden liked the resolve his team showed toward the end.

“We had to fix our energy,” he said. “We had no energy whatsoever. They have the talent, we just have to keep going. I just gave them some encouraging words (after the match), like pick it up — we’ve got the talent, we just can’t put it together sometimes.”

Both teams were hoping to boost their seeding for the postseason tournament draw, which takes place this weekend. Liberty and LaBrae are each in Division III.