Men’s volleyball falls to Virginia in semifinals of ECVA South Championships at JMU

Saturday, March 23

Harrisonburg, VA

10:00 AM

Liberty University Club Sports

ECVA South Championship

Freshman outside hitter Anthony Bernardo led the Flames offensively with 31 kills in four matches. (Photo by Aziz Ibrahim)

Men’s volleyball falls to Virginia in semifinals of ECVA South Championships at JMU

3/24/2024 11:36:00 AM | Men's Volleyball

Liberty finished 2-1 in pool play, showing flashes of exceptional volleyball in sweeping JMU and UNC Chapel Hill before falling to NC State in three games and being swept by UVA.

Liberty University's Division I men's volleyball team played with high levels of enthusiasm and effort in pool play at Saturday's ECVA South Championships, hosted by James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., before being ousted in the semifinals of the playoffs to eventual champion University of Virginia.

"Both (DI and DII) teams lost in the semifinals after looking really strong early in the day and throughout pool play," Flames Head Coach Josh Knapp said, noting that the DII squad also lost in the semifinals of its playoff. "The DI team had a really strong start, going 2-1 in our pool. We were playing with a lot of passion and energy and taking those matches by storm."

Liberty swept host JMU by a 26-24, 25-14 final and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, 25-16, 25-22 before dropping a three-game match to North Carolina State, 25-22, 19-25, 15-12 and losing to UVA in the semifinals, 25-19, 25-20.

"Early in the day, everyone played with a lot of adrenaline and passion," Knapp said. "We played with a lot of energy, and with heavy arms, putting a lot of pace on the ball and good power into their swings throughout pool play. The boys played to a very high level early on in the day and it was very exciting to see. They showed that they're really here to play and can do a lot of good things on the court out there."

"But then, they got tired at the end," he added. "We gave UVA too many points off attacking errors and points off of service errors, just too many free points. We just need to clean up our play and be more consistent for longer periods of time."

Offensively, freshman outside hitter Anthony Bernardo spiked a team-high 31 kills for the tournament and added three aces, but had 11 service errors. He was complemented by sophomore opposite hitter Zach Lamoureux (23 kills), sophomore middle hitter Jayden Rice (11 kills) and senior opposite hitter Tyler Wemple (11 kills). They also combined for eight of Liberty's 12 stuff blocks with graduate middle blocker Jared Vazquez adding three more.

"Anderson, Rice, and Vasquez each played huge roles in holding their opposing blockers and giving Bernardo and Lamoureux solo blockers on the pins, which gave us opportunities to attack opponents' right side and outside hitters," Knapp said.

Sophomore setter Josh Culpepper distributed 78 assists and senior libero Mason Ellenberger made 52 digs.

"Josh found a lot of great success (in running the offense) with a lot of good speed and in smart ways to help our players find the court and put the ball down with good swings," Knapp said. "Mason Ellenberger was keeping our play alive and extending our rallies. We put more points on the board with how many balls he was saving for us."

UVA was the DI tournament champion, defeating Virginia Tech in three games to also clinch one of four ECVA South bids to the East Coast Championships at Penn State University.

"We've got to show up to that event and win out to go into nationals carrying over energy with us," Knapp said. "There are solid teams throughout our conference," and up and down the East Coast.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer