Men’s volleyball regroups after slow start to place 13th at Hoosier-Illini Classic

Saturday, February 17

Bloomington, IN

10:00 AM

Liberty University Club Sports

Hoosier-Illini Tournament

Freshman middle blocker Beau Anderson and senior outside hitter Tyler Wemple helped the Flames to a strong finish at the Hoosier-Illini Classic on Sunday.

Men’s volleyball regroups after slow start to place 13th at Hoosier-Illini Classic

2/19/2024 3:56:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

After going 0-3 in Saturday's pool play, losing two matches in three games, Liberty won two of three matches in Sunday's Silver Bracket playoffs.

Liberty University's Division I men's volleyball team placed 13th out of 32 teams at this weekend's Hoosier-Illini Classic hosted by the University of Illinois and Indiana University in its Bill Gates Fieldhouse in Bloomington, Ind.

"Overall, the event was a good trip to work through multiple areas of the team and athletes' mentally and keep pushing forward in finding more success on the court," Flames Head Coach Josh Knapp said. "The team used this tournament to really challenge themselves through hard circumstances and advance their mindsets and mentality."

On Saturday, Liberty got out to a rough start, finishing 0-3 in pool play with losses to the host Hoosiers, 19-25, 25-12, 15-11, the University of Tennessee, 25-22, 29-27, and the University of Missouri, 25-22, 25-16.

That sent the Flames to the silver bracket, where they rebounded well to go 2-1 in the single-elimination playoffs. Liberty won its opening match over Ball State (Ind.) University, 25-19, 25-20, and then defeated Marquette (Wisc.) University, 25-20, 22-25, 15-8 before falling in the semifinal round to Loyola (Ill.) University of Chicago, 25-22, 22-25, 15-9.

"The Hoosier-Illini was a very competitive event seeing teams we are not familiar with or see on a regular basis," Knapp said. "With this tournament being outside of our conference, we use it to work on our systems and try new things. Our focus is to peak for the ECVA Championships and (NCVF) Nationals, so this event was one step along that season-long quest towards our end goal."

One area in which he experimented with was the front line, switching graduate opposite hitter Tyler Wemple and sophomore outside hitter Zach Lamoureux "to help optimize our strengths and weaknesses" going into Sunday's playoff rounds.

"Both stepped up to take on roles that they weren't prepared for and hadn't practiced in, and that change helped us find great success within our defense and blocking systems," Knapp said, noting that the Flames were also more potent on attack. "We are ready to keep taking these small steps forward to keep advancing toward our goals."

Freshman middle blocker Beau Anderson, who has filled in for injured senior Jared Vazquez in that position, played a key role both offensively and defensively, complementing junior Jayden Rice.

"Our middles were key pieces for us during this week and starting to find great success as the event played out," Knapp said. "Beau showed up and performed very well for us this weekend. He continued to challenge himself throughout the event and not only found ways to advance his own game, but he was a consistent option for us offensively and with a solid block."

The Flames will return to ECVA play by welcoming UNC Chapel Hill to the Liberty Arena for Friday's Midnight Mayhem matchup before hosting North Carolina State, which was rescheduled from Feb. 15 to Feb. 27 in the Arena. Both the Division I and II teams, ranked 18th and third, respectively, in the first NCVF Division I and III polls, will compete in the ECVA South Championships at JMU in Harrisonburg, Va., on March 23, and the East Coast Championships at Penn State on April 6. Those events will help determine seedings for the April 18-20 NCVF National Championships in Kansas City, Mo.