Senior libero Mason Ellenberger serves in front of Flames Head Coach Josh Knapp at the Liberty Arena. (Photos by Kendall Tidwell)
Men’s volleyball suffers reverse sweep at hands of Hokies in Liberty Arena
2/5/2024 10:34:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
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After rallying from a two-game deficit to fall to UVA in five games, the Flames self-destructed down the stretch after opening a 2-0 lead on Virginia Tech.
A second straight five-game setback against an in-state rival in the Liberty Arena was twice as tough to take for Liberty University's men's volleyball team, which let a 2-0 lead in games slip away and fell to 0-2 in ECVA play with a 23-25, 22-25, 25-18, 25-19, 15-13 loss to Virginia Tech on Monday night.
"It's a tough run, reverse sweep for Tech there," Flames Head Coach Josh Knapp said. "It comes down to … that mentality issue of we got too comfortable, and Tech responded well. We weren't able put much pressure on them when it comes to our swings. We were very timid and played it safe. The Arena kind of takes a toll on you mentally when it comes down to these pressure moments and with such a young team, that shows through."
Knapp noted that senior middle blocker Jared Vazquez and sophomore right-side hitter Jackson Stough are both sidelined by injuries and a couple other players were battling sickness on Monday night.
"Our team is looking very light and not what we had last semester," he said, noting that Liberty defeated both Virginia Tech and Virginia in the fall. "That's a part of athletics, there's a lot of unpredictability that you have to deal with. We're looking to handle that adversity and hopefully see them back as we get closer to the end of this year and work with what we have. Jared (Vazquez), (senior libero) Mason (Ellenberger), and (senior outside hitter) Tyler (Wemple), all upperclassmen, really worked well together and played well off each other's energy and intensity. So we're looking to get Jared back on the court. He's not a fan of watching us play."
A spike, block, spike, and ace by freshman outside hitter Anthony Bernardo lifted Liberty to 5-4, 6-5, 7-6, and 9-8 leads in Game 1 before sophomore middle blocker Jayden Rice gave the Flames a 10-9 advantage with a kill from the middle.
Sophomore setter Josh Culpepper's powerful jump serve was not returned as Liberty extended its lead to 12-10 before a kill by sophomore opposite hitter Zach Lamoureux made it 13-11. Virginia Tech went on a 6-1 run to seize a 17-14 lead before Culpepper pulled the Flames back within 18-16 with a one-timed kill from the middle.
Trailing 20-17, Liberty saved a few apparent kills by Tech before Lamoureux spiked a powerful cross-court winner, freshman Beau Anderson dinked a winner from the middle, and back-to-back hitting errors by the Hokies gave the Flames a 21-20 lead. However, back-to-back kills put them back on top before Lamoureux tied it at 22 with a spike kill down the right line and Culpepper set up Wemple for a right-side kill and a 23-22 Liberty lead.
Virginia Tech tied it again before Anderson set up game point with a kill from the middle. The Hokies saved consecutive near kills by Wemple before hitting the foul pole on a spike try for a 25-23 Flames triumph.
A backwards dink by Culpepper and spectacular stuff block by Lamoureux at the left side of the net gave Liberty an early 4-3 lead in Game 2. Bernardo's tap block winner made it 7-6 and a stuff block by Culpepper stretched the lead to 11-8. Lamoureux's kill from the left side put the Flames back up, 12-11, before a stuff block by Anderson pushed the edge to 15-11 and prompted a Virginia Tech time out.
A cross-court kill by Lamoureux from the right side after a diving dig by Bernardo on the service receive extended Liberty's lead to 16-12 before Bernardo's spike through a block from the left side made it 17-14. Lamoureux's kill off a block wide kept Liberty on top, 19-17, before the Hokies tied it at 19 on a stuff block. Lamoureux's kill from the outside spot and an errors by Tech gave Liberty a 22-21 lead and helped the Flames close out the game, 25-22.
Rice started Game 3 with a powerful kill and dink winner off sets from Culpepper for a 2-1 lead before the Hokies seized a 3-2 lead by blocking a Culpepper spike. Culpepper's kill from the middle ended a Tech scoring surge and pulled the Flames back within 14-9 before his block winner kept them within 19-14. But that was as close as Liberty would get as the Hokies cruised to the 25-18 win to prevent a sweep.
"Tech was able to adjust very well," Knapp said. "They have some smart players that are well equipped to challenge you and they found some of those weaknesses and we just weren't fully able to hide those. They were able to adjust after that second set into where they needed to serve us, where they needed to set up their blocks, where our setter wanted to go. So we struggled finding a good connection in a way to terminate that ball."
Powerful spike kills by Lamoureux from the outside and Culpepper from the right side gave Liberty an early 3-2 lead in Game 4. Anderson's spike through a block in the middle tied it at 5 before another uncontested pulled the Flames back within 7-6. Saving digs by Ellenberger and Culpepper allowed for a kill by Anderson before a kill by Bernardo from the outside drew the Flames within 10-9. A spike kill by Wemple cut the deficit to 17-16 before a block by Rice was returned long to tie the match and another hitting error by the Hokies gave the Flames an 18-17 edge, forcing a Tech timeout. A powerful kill from the right side by Wemple tied the match at 19 before the Hokies closed out the game on a 6-0 run, as Tech overcame a 2-0 deficit to force Game 5, as the Flames had in their loss to Virginia in the Liberty Arena last week.
Authoritative spikes from the middle and the left side and a kill off a block at the right side gave the Hokies an early 4-2 lead before a diving dig by Ellenberger and spike from the left by Bernardo pulled the Flames even at 4 and kills by Wemple off the right side of the net and Bernardo on a clean hit from the lifted Liberty to a 6-4 advantage and back-to-back errors by the Hokies put the Flames in control, up 8-4.
Lamoureux's spike kills from the left side padded Liberty's lead to 12-7 and 13-9 before a Wemple block from the right side landed just wide and Virginia Tech battled back to clinch the match with another 6-0 rally.
"The offensive problem comes from the pass, set, and hit," Knapp added. "It takes the entire team to get that ball up, to run everything in system, and through the systems we have set up. We just didn't execute what we needed to, everyone as a whole. We're really looking to clean that up before our next matchup this weekend throughout practice this week."
The first of four NCVF national rankings is scheduled to be released on Friday before the Flames will look to get on track in conference play when they host an ECVA South Play Date on Saturday, starting at 9 a.m. in the LaHaye Multipurpose Center. Liberty's Division I and II teams will both be contending for bids to the April 6 East Coast Championships at Penn State with top-two finishes in the fields of 10 to 15 teams, with the March 23 ECVA South Play Date at JMU the only other opportunity.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer Freshman outside hitter Anthony Bernardo makes a dig in front of Ellenberger in last week's loss to Virginia at the Liberty Arena.
