Liberty University Club Sports
ECVA East Coast Championships
Men’s volleyball DI, DII teams eliminated in East Coast Championship quarterfinals
4/1/2023 8:12:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
For the second weekend in a row, Liberty University's Division I and DII men's volleyball teams experienced similar results, Saturday in the East Coast Championships at the University of Maryland.
Both went 2-1 in their respective pools before being ousted in the quarterfinals, effectively ending their seasons.
"We had two tough draws with the teams we were playing in quarterfinals, and both teams getting knocked out that early was a little bit of a disappointment," Flames Head Coach Josh Knapp said. "The motivation was there, knowing that it was their last tournament, so it was a heavy loss at the end to see their season go out this way."
Last Saturday, in the ECVA South Play Date at Liberty's LaHaye Multipurpose Center, Liberty's DI and DII teams both finished 4-0 in pool play before losing to rival Virginia Tech's A and B teams, respectively, in the semifinals.
At Maryland, the Flames' DI squad opened pool play by sweeping Stony Brook, 25-15, 25-23 before suffering a lopsided loss to the University of Virginia, 25-17, 25-16. Liberty bounced back to edge the host Terrapins, 25-21, 20-25, 15-10, in the final round of pool play.
"We got to see a number of new teams throughout pool play, which is always interesting," Knapp said.
"UVA played us very well, and we did not find much success against them after a rough start."
In the single-elimination playoffs, Liberty was swept by the University of Central Florida in the quarterfinals, 25-20, 25-22.
"UCF has a solid team and we played them decently," Knapp said. "They had some large hitters, especially on the right side, where they had a little size on us. They were a very solid defensive team, and kept a lot of balls going that we weren't used to seeing dug up."
Graduate outside hitter Cross Edwards paced the Flames' attack with 30 kills on 63 attempts while freshman outside hitter Josh Culpepper added 20 on 46 spikes, senior right-side hitter Tyler Wemple had 19 kills on 38 tries, and senior middle hitter John Sauder had 13 kills on 25 attempts.
"Cross had a good performance this weekend for his last tournament representing Liberty," Knapp said.
"The guys fought well and played with some pretty good passion. They played loose, knowing this was their last one together. The seniors played well and seemed to enjoy their time more than usual."
Sauder led the Flames with five blocks in the four matches while junior middle hitter Jared Vazquez added four and freshman right-side hitter Zach Lamoureux three.
Junior libero Mason Ellenberger had 27 digs while senior setter Chase Keith made 16 and Culpepper and Edwards came up with 13 apiece.
"Mason was really keeping us alive in most of those games, playing very well and consistently," Knapp said. "When it comes down to it, this was a huge lesson for the program and the athletes who got to see a lot of growth and improved performance in pressure situations. We were adjusting our styles to the opponents we were seeing, and had to change a few of our looks. They got to see a lot of changes made and improvements we've been implementing in practice."
He hopes the players can take away plenty of positives from a season in which they showed flashes of brilliance, including sweeping the ECVA tournament at JMU.
"These guys saw more fight in them than they knew that they had," Knapp said. "They played pretty solid and pretty consistent throughout the day. We want to build off the foundation we left this season and keep the program moving forward."
Meanwhile, the DII men won two out of three matches in its pool, beating SUNY Brockport and Delaware's B team and losing to Virginia Tech's C team before falling to the University of Maryland Baltimore County in the quarterfinals. 25-23, 25-22.
A number of the Flames' indoor players will compete in the LU Spring Pairs Tournament on April 22 at the East Campus courts.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
