Thursday, April 18
Kansas City, MO
10:00 AM
Liberty University Club Sports
at
NCVF National Championship
Seniors Tyler Wemple (from left), Jared Vazquez, and Mason Ellenberger carried fhe Flames in Kansas City. (Photo by KJ Jugar)
Men’s volleyball teams go down swinging in silver bracket semifinals at NCVF nationals in Kansas City
4/20/2024 10:17:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
The Flames' DI and DIII squads both won their first round of playoffs, beating UC-Santa Barbara and Ohio State, respectively.
Both Liberty University's Division I and Division III men's volleyball teams won their silver bracket playoff quarterfinal matches in the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation (NCVF) Championships before being ousted in the semifinals Saturday at the Kansas City Convention Center.
The Flames' DI team defeated UC-Santa Barbara, 25-12, 25-22 before being swept by California State Northridge, 25-21, 25-20 to end the three-day tournament with a 3-5 record overall.
"We were a little low on numbers, as Zach Lamoureux was not able to play for us with his ankle injury," Liberty Head Coach Josh Knapp said. "He is a big part of our offensive systems."
He said opposite hitter Tyler Wemple, libero Mason Ellenberger, and middle blocker Jared Vazquez, who returned from an injury that sidelined him for much of the fall semester and the start of the spring, played pivotal roles for the Flames.
"Our three seniors really stood out and helped hold the team together," Knapp added, "Tyler Wemple played very well throughout the weekend. He played at a very high level, with a high hitting percentage and impact for the team. He was a good offensive weapon for us and found ways to score."
"Jared (Vazquez) was one of our top middles throughout the day, doing a lot of good work on the net, both offensively and defensively, using his size to his advantage," he added.
Knapp pulled sophomore defensive specialist Stephen Dayton up from the DIII team to give the Flames more flexibility and experimented with Ellenberger at outside hitter for a few matches to extend the team athletically.
"With Mason being able to play both libero and outside, he had an even bigger impact, as a leader on the court defensively," Knapp said.
On Friday, Liberty had jumped out to early leads by winning the first games of both of its pool play matches only to drop the second and third, falling to Texas A&M 25-27, 25-16, 15-11 and Virginia Tech, 19-25, 25-16, 15-5.
"We had a couple matches on the second day that were very close and winnable, but we weren't able to pull those matches out," Knapp said. "Moving on and competing against UC-Santa Barbara and California State, our team showed great effort and a lot of promise for the future as we keep improving and bringing in recruits and elevating our play. For such a young team, they showed that if they maintain their energy and effort and focus throughout the entire match they can compete with these other high-level teams. We had some close ones, tough losses, but showed a lot of growth across the board. The guys really showed their merit and willingness to give their all to the team and the program."
Complete results are available online.
The Flames' DIII squad, meanwhile, edged Ohio State 27-25, 18-25, 15-13 before being narrowly eliminated by Utah Valley 20-25, 27-25, 15-12, to finish 4-4 for the weekend.
That team had been swept in both of its matches in Friday's second day of pool play, losing to the Buckeyes, 25-22, 25-18, and eventual gold bracket champion University of Wisconsin-Madison, 25-21, 25-18.
Assistant Coach Bryan Rigg, who recruited Knapp before Knapp succeeded him as head coach, led the DIII squad to a solid showing at nationals despite its relative inexperience.
"Bryan Rigg does a great job with those guys," Knapp said. "It is a very young team with a lot of energy. A lot of them have just played volleyball for one year here, but they are very coachable and work hard to make up for what they lack in experience. With his knowledge of the game, he is good at getting them caught up to speed and elevating their play by adding to the complexity of the plays and systems they run to take advantage of opponents as much as possible."
He expects a few of those players to make the DI squad next season after tryouts in late August.
"We will let people develop in the program, through playing experience and strength and conditioning, to elevate them to the next level," Knapp said.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
The Flames' DI team defeated UC-Santa Barbara, 25-12, 25-22 before being swept by California State Northridge, 25-21, 25-20 to end the three-day tournament with a 3-5 record overall.
"We were a little low on numbers, as Zach Lamoureux was not able to play for us with his ankle injury," Liberty Head Coach Josh Knapp said. "He is a big part of our offensive systems."
He said opposite hitter Tyler Wemple, libero Mason Ellenberger, and middle blocker Jared Vazquez, who returned from an injury that sidelined him for much of the fall semester and the start of the spring, played pivotal roles for the Flames.
"Our three seniors really stood out and helped hold the team together," Knapp added, "Tyler Wemple played very well throughout the weekend. He played at a very high level, with a high hitting percentage and impact for the team. He was a good offensive weapon for us and found ways to score."
"Jared (Vazquez) was one of our top middles throughout the day, doing a lot of good work on the net, both offensively and defensively, using his size to his advantage," he added.
Knapp pulled sophomore defensive specialist Stephen Dayton up from the DIII team to give the Flames more flexibility and experimented with Ellenberger at outside hitter for a few matches to extend the team athletically.
"With Mason being able to play both libero and outside, he had an even bigger impact, as a leader on the court defensively," Knapp said.
On Friday, Liberty had jumped out to early leads by winning the first games of both of its pool play matches only to drop the second and third, falling to Texas A&M 25-27, 25-16, 15-11 and Virginia Tech, 19-25, 25-16, 15-5.
"We had a couple matches on the second day that were very close and winnable, but we weren't able to pull those matches out," Knapp said. "Moving on and competing against UC-Santa Barbara and California State, our team showed great effort and a lot of promise for the future as we keep improving and bringing in recruits and elevating our play. For such a young team, they showed that if they maintain their energy and effort and focus throughout the entire match they can compete with these other high-level teams. We had some close ones, tough losses, but showed a lot of growth across the board. The guys really showed their merit and willingness to give their all to the team and the program."
Complete results are available online.
The Flames' DIII squad, meanwhile, edged Ohio State 27-25, 18-25, 15-13 before being narrowly eliminated by Utah Valley 20-25, 27-25, 15-12, to finish 4-4 for the weekend.
That team had been swept in both of its matches in Friday's second day of pool play, losing to the Buckeyes, 25-22, 25-18, and eventual gold bracket champion University of Wisconsin-Madison, 25-21, 25-18.
Assistant Coach Bryan Rigg, who recruited Knapp before Knapp succeeded him as head coach, led the DIII squad to a solid showing at nationals despite its relative inexperience.
"Bryan Rigg does a great job with those guys," Knapp said. "It is a very young team with a lot of energy. A lot of them have just played volleyball for one year here, but they are very coachable and work hard to make up for what they lack in experience. With his knowledge of the game, he is good at getting them caught up to speed and elevating their play by adding to the complexity of the plays and systems they run to take advantage of opponents as much as possible."
He expects a few of those players to make the DI squad next season after tryouts in late August.
"We will let people develop in the program, through playing experience and strength and conditioning, to elevate them to the next level," Knapp said.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
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