Men’s volleyball swept by UVA in season opener at Liberty Arena

Tuesday, January 21

Lynchburg, VA

7:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

University of Virginia

Flames senior middle blocker Jayden Rice follows through on a spike against Virginia at the Liberty Arena. (Photos by Kendall Tidwell)

Men’s volleyball swept by UVA in season opener at Liberty Arena

1/21/2025 10:11:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Liberty battled back to give the Cavaliers a run for their money, especially in the third game, but dropped their third consecutive spring season home opener.

Gallery: (1-21-2025) Men's volleyball vs. UVA

For the third season in a row, in its season-opening match in the Liberty Arena, Liberty University's men's volleyball team was unable to capitalize on its home-court advantage Tuesday night, as ECVA rival Virginia swept the Flames 25-19, 25-17, 25-21 before approximately 1,000 spectators.

"We started off staying pretty close to them in that first set, and that second set got away from us pretty early on," Liberty third-year Head Coach Josh Knapp said. "We have some work to do, and these guys definitely have experience and frustration with that match and they want to see that improvement. They know they have more in them, and we saw a little bit of that in the third set, being down a wide spread and able to fight back and make that a close game. When those guys want to play, they're in it, so we've got to fix some pieces in our systems and keep them moving forward."

Sophomore outside hitter Anthony Bernardo (6 kills, 4 digs, 3 aces) and freshman middle hitter Austin Leach (2 kills, 1 block) spiked back-to-back kills to bring Liberty back within 6-3 in the third game. Bernardo spiked a kill and served a winner and junior opposite hitter Josh Culpepper blocked a winner to pull the Flames back within 7-5.

"Leach is finding his place in the program," Knapp said. "He is very athletic, and he brings some big plays to the court and really gets the guys going. He's a big, exciting piece. He's had some injury problems in the fall semester so we're keeping him a little bit light, but he's definitely going to be an option for us throughout the semester.

A mid-row spike by Bernardo cut UVA's lead to 8-7 and right-side kill by freshman Josh Davis (6 kills) kept the Flames within 12-9. Winners by junior middle hitter Zach Lamoureux (5 kills) and freshman setter Isaac Oden (20 assists) pulled Liberty within 15-11 before Lamoureux's ace made it a 15-12 contest.

After trading points, the Cavaliers and Flames followed with four-point runs, prompting UVA to call time out, leading, 20-17. A one-timer by Culpepper on the left side trimmed it to 20-19 and kills by Davis from the right cut the deficits to 21-20 and 23-21 but that was as close as Liberty would get before the Cavaliers completed the sweep.

"We just saw struggles from a little bit of our service-receive line and then being able to run our full offense," Knapp said. "They were able to lock down on our hitters and shut us down a little more at the net with their blocks, so they were able to get us out of system a little bit and work in their systems well."

"When it comes down to it, we have some guys that when they're on, they're the reason we win, and sometimes when they're off, they're the reason we lose," he added. "We're looking to piece that consistency a little more together and work as one unit. We're still finding our footing."

That was particularly true for junior setter/opposite hitter Josh Culpepper, last season's team captain who spent the fall semester studying abroad in Japan. He wasn't able to maintain his game overseas, and only rejoined the Flames in time to practice once before Tuesday's match.

"Isaac Oden was still in there running the offense for us, and Josh got subbed in as a right side and then played outside in the third set," Knapp said. "We're going to look at Josh (Culpepper doing) a little bit of setting and a little bit of hitting to see what works best for our guys and our offense. Isaac did well on the blocking side of things, setting up our block as well as distributing the ball in the situations he had it. We need to be a little more in system and … making those right decisions and getting our feet set so we can set up those guys and distribute that ball well."

Virginia had a few surprises in its lineup, including a freshman southpaw setter.

"This is our first time seeing their new roster," Knapp said. "They have some depth with a grad student returning and that new setter who is left-handed and a really smart and great athlete, a great volleyball player. He distributed the ball well and they played their systems at a really high level. They served well, they were able to pass in system enough to keep their offense spread and find us struggling on the blocking side a little bit."

The Flames have finished 1-3 in Liberty Arena matches in each of the past two seasons, winning only the Midnight Mayhem contests. They will look to end that streak of prime-time setbacks when they host another ECVA rival, North Carolina State, Monday at 7 p.m.

"N.C. State's going to be a similar challenge," Knapp said. "They have some returners, but some new faces as well on their roster, and are just building that chemistry from the start. Some really good athletes are coming in across the board, and we're all looking to find that rhythm of our systems."

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video edited by Andrew Musser/Club Sports Video & Media Coordinator