Men’s volleyball overcomes early stumble, wins three straight sets to take down Tar Heels in ‘Midnight Mayhem’

Bolstered by a strong showing from College For A Weekend (CFAW) guests and students in Liberty Arena, Liberty University's Division I men's volleyball team rebounded from first-set mistakes to defeat the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill 3-1 (22-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-18) early Saturday morning in the team's lone "Midnight Mayhem" match of the year.

"(The atmosphere was) absolutely electric," Flames Head Coach Josh Knapp said. "The fans were great tonight, engaged on every point, heckling the other team, and supporting our Liberty Flames. We thank the fans and appreciate them coming out and supporting our team."

Mason Ellenberger serves the ball — Senior libero Mason Ellenberger recorded four service aces in the contest.

Despite the home-court advantage, the Flames started the night slow and quickly found themselves in a 4-1 deficit. Although Liberty managed to equalize the score multiple times and even gained a lead of 12-10 off a kill by graduate opposite hitter Tyler Wemple and a UNC error, the Tar Heels mostly controlled the tempo of the set and took control after taking a 16-15 lead.

Knapp attributed the rough start to the night to the overall youthfulness of the team, which features six sophomores and one freshman out of the 10 players who played on Saturday.

"We made too many errors that first set," he said. "(The players) were just finding their footing and finding their rhythm. We trusted those guys to make that adjustment in the second set of putting balls away and finding their swings. The arena is a little different atmosphere than we are typically playing in, so there was a little bit of an adjustment period."

Contrary to the first set, Liberty quickly caught fire in the second after a service error by UNC and a strong block by sophomore middle blocker Jayden Rice gave the team a 2-0 lead. This trend continued as the Flames built on their advantage throughout the game, capped by a kill by Rice to tie the match at 1-1.

Tyler Wemple spiked the ball — Senior Tyler Wemple had 13 kills in the match.

Finally finding their groove, the Flames carried this momentum into the third. Relying on the powerful swings of Wemple, sophomore outside hitter Zach Lamoureux, and sophomore setter Josh Culpepper as well as a number of well-placed blocks by various members of the team, the Flames snuck ahead to a 2-1 set lead with a 25-19 victory.

After a net violation cost the Flames the opening point in the fourth, the players quickly righted the ship to go up 2-1 and maintained that lead for the rest of the set to close out the night with a victory.

After the game, Knapp briefly walked over to the opposing bench to thank the UNC players for making the trek to Lynchburg.

"We have a great relationship with UNC," he said. "We love those guys. I played against a few of them when I was a student-athlete as well. It's a great atmosphere to have them here. They are within our conferences and other teams that we see."

Wemple led the Flames' attack for the contest with 13 kills, followed closely by Lamoureux and Bernardo, who had 12 and 10, respectively. Culpepper distributed 43 assists and recorded seven kills in the win. Senior middle blocker Jared Vazquez, who was making his season debut after an injury sidelined him for the beginning of the semester, added five five more kills to the mix.

Liberty celebrated after scoring a point.

"I'm not the craziest hitter, but I did my job and put the balls away," said Wemple, who was honored alongside other seniors on the team with Hawaiian leis after the game. "I had my (younger teammates) swing harder and harder. I did good so they could do better."

On the defensive side of the net, Culpepper, Lamoureux, and Vazquez each recorded three blocks. Knapp highlighted the team's defensive pressure, as well as its serving prowess, as monumental in winning the match. Liberty finished the night with six service aces, including four by senior libero Masson Ellenberger.

This late-night contest followed losses to Virginia and Virginia Tech in the Liberty Arena and came on the heels of last weekend's tournament at Indiana in the Hoosier-Illini Classic, in which Liberty finished 13th in a field of 32.

"The boys understood that this was our turning point," Knapp said. "We had a slow start to the season and a few injuries, but they are really finding their footing as a team. We struggled a little bit (early), but we keep on putting that pressure on ourselves, making those adjustments, and really being transparent with ourselves with what we need to improve on as well as (highlighting) our strengths." wide shot of Liberty Arena

The Flames have one more test against North Carolina State at home on Tuesday at 8 p.m. before they travel to Harrisonburg, Va., for the EVCA South Championship on March 23. Liberty will close out the season at State College, Pa., for the East Coast Championships on April 6 to set its seeding for the NCVF National Championships from April 18-20 in Kansas City. The team hopes to use the victory over the Tar Heels as motivation to finish the semester strongly.

"The feeling that we had today, I want to carry that into practice," Wemple said. "If we practice like we played today, the product will show itself. Hopefully, I can keep the team strong that way. It's a young team, but they are all very talented."

By Christian Shields/Staff Writer; Video by Mia Cooper/Club Sports Video & Media Intern

Men’s volleyball overcomes early stumble, wins three straight sets to take down Tar Heels in ‘Midnight Mayhem’

Players Mentioned

Jayden Rice

Jared Vazquez

Tyler Wemple

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