Up-and-coming racquetball players excel at second MACRC Tournament

Friday, November 15

Chapel Hill, NC

Liberty University Club Sports

Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Racquetball Conference

Assistant Coach Herman Lewis (left) accompanied the team to North Carolina State last month.

Up-and-coming racquetball players excel at second MACRC Tournament

12/12/2024 2:47:00 PM | Racquetball

Liberty maintained its first-place standing in the men's and women's conference standings after the second of four events at NC State, site of the March 26-29 nationals.

Liberty University's racquetball team solidified first place in the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Racquetball Conference men's, women's, and combined standings with several top-five singles and doubles showings at its second MACRC Tournament, held Nov. 15-17 in North Carolina State University's Carmichael Gym in Raleigh, N.C.

Head Coach Danny Rodriguez has an excellent balance of veterans and newcomers on this year's squad, with four returning women complemented by four first-year players and five players with experience out of 10 players on the men's roster.

In women's singles, Paige Jordan finished first in the round-robin Division 1-2 bracket, edging fellow senior Natalie Blank in the final. They were followed by a pair of sophomores, Madisyn Leyendecker in fourth place and Amber Fredenburg in fifth. Jordan and Blank teamed up to defeat Leyendecker and Fredenburg in the Division 1 doubles final.

Maggie Priest ousted fellow sophomore sibling Isobel Priest in the women's singles Division 3 final followed by Amelia Bennett in fifth place as well as fellow freshman Erin Locklin in sixth. In doubles, Locklin joined forces with Isobel Priest to upset Maggie Priest and Bennett in the Division 3 doubles final.

Among men, Liberty sophomore Matthew Cook won the round-robin Division 1 singles bracket while graduate Luke Hagberg claimed third place.

Zion Kim won the Division 3 round-robin singles bracket, beating fellow Flames sophomore Austin Dean in the final, followed by senior Bryce Metz (fifth place) and senior Drew Berthiaume (sixth).

In Division 2, Cook's brother, junior Nathaniel Cook, finished the Olympic Format Gold bracket in fourth place while junior Malachi Vander Pol won the Olympic Format Division 4 Red bracket, and freshman Jared Hollins finished third.

Men's doubles featured a round-robin format with Dean and Metz combining to win the Division 3 bracket over Kim and Berthiaume and Hagberg and Matthew Cook edging senior older brother Andrew Cook and Nathaniel Cook in the Division 1 third-place match. Hollins and Vander Pol finished runner-up in the Division 4 bracket.

Liberty remains in first place by a commanding margin in the MACRC combined team standings, followed by North Carolina State and the University of Virginia.

In the women's team standings, the Lady Flames lead Appalachian State and UVA while the Flames stand atop the Wolfpack and Cavaliers in the men's team standings.

When NC State hosts the March 26-29 USA Racquetball Collegiate National Championships, Rodriguez is hopeful that his team can improve on its fourth-place combined finishes at the past two national tournaments.

He will send his top six men's and top six women's singles players to that tournament, forming three doubles pairings on both sides, with two men's players and two women serving as alternates and playing exhibition matches in the skills divisions.

Rodriguez expects the best competition to come from Brigham Young University, Oregon State, Missouri, Northern Arizona, Ohio State, and Texas.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer