Liberty University Club Sports
North Carolina State University
Flames scorch Wolfpack for season's first win in Liberty Arena
3/6/2023 6:17:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Liberty University's men's volleyball team finished home competition for the 2023 season in style with a dominant 25-16, 25-20, 25-22 triumph over North Carolina State early Sunday morning in the team's annual Midnight Mayhem matchup at the Liberty Arena.
Led by powerful kills from outside hitters Cross Edwards, a graduate student, and freshman Joshua Culpepper, as well as senior opposite hitter Tyler Wemple, the Flames cruised to victory over the visiting Wolfpack to the delight of the thousands of fans on hand.
Both teams started slowly in the first set, with neither side able to garner more than a three-point lead. Liberty (7-4) finally found some momentum with a five-point run to pull ahead, 18-12. NC State could not recover the deficit and lost on an ace by Culpepper on game point.
After a brief intermission, the Wolfpack maintained a narrow lead in the second game until Liberty tied at 18 and a kill by Edwards gave the Flames their second lead. The squad scored five of the next seven points, spearheaded by three kills and a block by Edwards, to snatch the second set from the claws of the Wolfpack. A timeout by NC State trailing 24-20 proved inconsequential as the Flames won the following point undeterred.
Edwards finished the night with a team-high 14 kills on 30 attempts. Wemple, who returned from being sidelined by injury for the past month, followed suit with 10 kills on 27 attempts.
Entering what would be the final set of the night, Knapp's squad seemed determined to make quick work of its opponent, rattling off four straight points to build an early lead. The visitors called a timeout to slow the bleeding. When play resumed, the Wolfpack rallied for four straight points, prompting a Liberty timeout.
Following the break, the Flames found their footing once again. Although the team never again relinquished the lead, the Wolfpack refused to quit and snapped at Liberty's heels, refusing to concede.
A block by senior middle blocker Noah Marine to make the score 15-10 led to another visitor timeout. N.C. State slowly whittled down the Flames' lead to 18-17 and 21-20 before the Flames finally put the Wolfpack away.
Liberty's win was the team's first and only victory at the Liberty arena this season, having previously dropping contests to Virginia Tech, JMU, and Virginia.
"We stuck to our systems that we've been practicing and set up against them to make sure that we kept some pressure on them," Flames Head Coach Josh Knapp said. "This first (home) win is a great one to see, especially for a midnight game with a whole bunch of seniors we got to honor tonight."
According to junior libero Mason Ellenberger, Liberty refused to become complacent throughout the match, which ultimately led to a long-awaited home victory.
"The team kept the mentality of always striving to beat them by the highest margin," Ellenberger said, noting that the team has previously given into the temptation to play relaxed after beating a team in the first set. "This time, we kept our heads down, we buckled down, and got done what we needed to get done in three."
Liberty lost to both Virginia Tech (five sets) and Virginia (four sets) after winning the opening sets of those matches.
Throughout the night, the Flames showed a consistent work ethic, putting in the extra effort to make as many saves as possible.
"I was really proud of the scrappiness of this team," said Ellenberger, who had 17 digs in the match. "Sometimes we're not the fastest moving team, but this time, we got so many balls up and it was great. It was a little thing we were keeping on the back of our minds when we were training, hitting the floor for everything. Nothing drops without a body hitting the floor with it. This game definitely proves how useful that tactic can be and how intentional that training has been and how it is paying off."
This competition marked Liberty's last until it travels to College Park, Md., for the ECVA East Coast Championships on April 1, before heading to to Kansas City, Mo., for the NCVF National Championships from April 13-15.
"This was a great starting point for us, our first home win," Knapp said. "We've been making a lot of changes to this team and adding a lot of systems in. The guys are really starting to buy into the game plan and what they have to do to win. This momentum will carry into those tournaments and even practices of seeing what they can do and getting that taste of what they have to do to win. Every little bit helps when it comes to getting these guys motivated. When they start seeing success, they start working a little bit harder and seeing where they can move forward."
By Christian Shields/Staff Writer
