Men’s beach volleyball opens season with mixed results at NCAA DI Stevenson

Friday, September 27

Owings Mills, MD

2:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Stevenson University

Mens-Beach-volleyball-team-photo-Stevenson

Liberty, coached by Josh Knapp (back right), debuted several new players in this weekend's matches. (Photo by Logan Smith)

Men’s beach volleyball opens season with mixed results at NCAA DI Stevenson

9/30/2024 6:25:00 PM | Men's Beach Volleyball

Liberty was swept by the host Mustangs before narrowly falling to Erskine and soundly defeating Tusculum to finish 1-2 in the two-day tournament.

Liberty University's men's beach volleyball team opened its fall schedule over the weekend with a competitive showing in a tournament at NCAA Division I Stevenson University, the overall winner, in Owings Mills, Md.

The Flames lost twice to the host Mustangs, 5-0 on Friday and 4-1 in an exhibition on Saturday with freshman Wyatt Colestock and junior Jackson Stough winning their No. 5 match over Jay Hyman and Tanner Laukhuf, 21-18, 21-18, to account for Stevenson's only setback in the tournament.

Between those two matches, Liberty was edged by NCAA Division II Erskine (S.C.) University, 3-2, and shut out NCAA Division II Tusculum (Tenn.) University, 5-0.

"This past weekend's tournament was our first tournament as a team and was a huge learning experience," said Flames freshman Nathan Knickerbocker, who teamed with junior Colton Fitzgerald to form the No. 1 tandem. "Everyone played extremely well and one big thing we should try to improve on is pushing that last mile and learning how to win."

Knickerbocker and Fitzgerald lost to Stevenson's John Ferraro and Tim Flanagan, 21-19, 21-13 in Friday's No. 1 match before falling in an even tighter match to the Mustangs' Ferraro and Anthony Pezzino, 21-19, 21-16 on Saturday.

"Everyone played well and fought hard to adapt to the different styles of each opponent," said Eustace Coker, a junior from Georgia who plays blocker alongside Andrew Milo, a sophomore from South Carolina, on the Flames' No. 3 team. "We utilized our strengths and were able to win some sets. More importantly, this weekend gave each seed a gauge of where we are competitively and the areas we individually need to improve on."

The Flames' No. 2 pair of sophomore Anthony Bernardo and junior Zach Lamoureux rallied from a 21-11 loss to Flanagan and Ryan Thenell to win the second game, 21-17, before dropping the third, 15-13, on Saturday. Similarly, on Friday against the Mustangs, Liberty's No. 4 duo of John Kinzler and Josh Davis bounced back from a 21-14 first-game loss against RC Getteau and Jackson Bones to dominate the second game, 21-5, only to drop the deciding game, 15-13.

Also on Friday, Milo and Coker dropped their No. 3 match to Stevenson's Kevin Kouchoukos and Jacob Sledz, 21-19, 25-23, while Colestock and Stough fell by 21-15, 21-15 scores.

"Our players showed improvement throughout our first beach event," Flames Head Coach Josh Knapp said. "Each pair showed intention and determination to challenge themselves against some solid competitors and difficult weather conditions to work for better outcomes and improved overall play throughout the weekend. Each team grew in chemistry together and found areas to work on moving forward."

Knickbocker said more important than the wins and losses, the trip allowed the Flames time to bond as a team and opportunity to share the love of Christ with their opponents.

"This season is going to be a great opportunity to learn and get better in the game of volleyball, and grow in our faith," he said. "It is also a good opportunity to create opportunities to share our faith with others."

Liberty will next travel to Tusculum in Greeneville, Tenn., for two matches against the Pioneers on Oct. 5-6 before hosting a tournament on its East Campus beach volleyball courts on Oct. 19-20 and traveling to Erskine in Due West, S.C., for its last two matches of the fall semester Oct. 25-26.