Flames sophomore outside hitter Anthony Bernardo, backed up by sophomore libero John Kinzler, was effective in service receive against the Wolfpack.
Flames men's volleyball comeback bid snuffed by Wolfpack at Liberty Arena
1/27/2025 10:53:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
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Liberty rallied from two games down to force Game 5 before falling to ECVA rival N.C. State; hosts Virginia Tech next Monday.
Rallying behind a vocal student section crowd, Liberty University's men's volleyball team nearly completed a dramatic turnaround against ECVA rival North Carolina State in its second match at the Liberty Arena before falling prey to the Wolfpack, 25-23, 25-23, 21-25, 14-25, 15-13 on Monday night.
"It was a really good look from the guys coming back and almost finding that reverse sweep," Flames Head Coach Josh Knapp said. "The guys played well and they're encouraged to see that improvement from the last three practices we've had from (last Tuesday's three-game loss to) UVA to this match. They're feeling a lot of movement forward and a lot of energy, so these guys are ready to continue to work and keep moving forward."
Freshman outside hitter Josh Davis (10 kills, 6 digs, 3 blocks, 1 ace) started Liberty's attack with a kill from the left side before sophomore Anthony Bernardo (22 kills, 2 aces, 3 digs) served an ace for an early 2-1 Liberty lead. A stuff block and spike kill by Davis at the right side gave the Flames 9-8 and 10-9 edges before a diving dig save by sophomore libero John Kinzler (30 digs) and cross-court spike kill by freshman setter Isaac Oden (19 assists) stretched Liberty's lead to 14-10. Liberty middle hitter Jayden Rice consults with Head Coach Josh Knapp in last week's match against Virginia. (Photos by Kendall Tidwell)
After junior middle hitter Jayden Rice (5 kills, 2 blocks) and Oden combined on a block to put the Flames back on top, 17-16, back-to-back spikes by Bernardo, the last for a winner, put them up 18-17.
Service errors by Oden and Bernardo gave the Wolfpack one-point leads before spike kills by Davis and Bernardo and an ace by Davis tied it at 23, prompting an N.C. State timeout.
Davis served long, setting up game point for the Wolfpack, before a spike down the left line landed wide to give them a 1-0 advantage.
Davis tied Game 2 at 6 with a powerful spike before a dig save by Kinzler and set by Oden assisted Bernardo for a spike kill from the left side. Bernardo spiked a kill from the right side to bring the Flames back within 11-10.
After a great defensive save by the Flames at the net, Bernardo tied it at 15 with a powerful spike from the left side before giving Liberty its first lead on another spike off a Wolfpack player on the baseline.
"Anthony (Bernardo) did great on the offensive side for us as well as pretty consistent in serve-receive," Knapp said. "He stayed really aggressive at the net, putting away balls that were out of system or against a triple block, so he continued to shine and lead the team through his play across the board."
N.C. State opened a 21-19 lead with a stuff block before the teams traded service errors. A cross-court kill by junior outside hitter Zach Bell made it a one-point match before Kinzler tied it up on his serve. However, as in Game 1, a fault on serve and an error at the net sealed the Flames' fate.
"We want to continue to iron out the service line," Knapp said. "We saw early on a few too many errors from our serves or we could have had those first two sets. We're just piecing together some of our systems and finding the right players to … make those decisions that we need to in those big moments."
A stuff block at the middle by freshman Austin Leach (4 kills, 2 blocks) started the Flames on the right foot before a spike kill by Davis off an N.C. State block tied it at 2.
Rice and Bernardo spiked kills off assists from junior setter Josh Culpepper (26 assists) to draw the Flames within 7-6 before a service error and Wolfpack stuff block padded its lead to 9-6.
A spike kill and stuff block by Bernardo helped Liberty rally back within 9-8 and block winner down the line by Davis trimmed the deficit to 10-9 before Rice's stuff block lifted Liberty to a 13-11 edge.
With junior middle hitter Zach Lamoureux on serve, the Flames went on a three-point run sparked by a stuff block by Rice to open an 18-15 lead. Culpepper kept them on top, 19-17, with a one-handed dink at the middle and a sharp-angled spike kill by Bernardo made it 20-18 Liberty before Davis hit a winner from the left side and a block kill from the right to extend the lead to 22-19. A Leach kill from the left side and Davis stuff block from the right gave the Flames their first game point, up 24-20, before the teams traded service errors to clinch the win and trim the Wolfpack's lead to 2-1.
"Our serve-receive passing helped us to get into system and provide the opportunity for those kills," Rice said. "John Kinzler especially, our libero, did an awesome job tonight and really helped us set up our offense."
A powerful kill by Rice lifted Liberty to an early 4-3 lead in Game 4 before back-to-back kills by Bernardo and Davis and a stuff block by Culpepper pushed the Flames back on top, 8-6. The Flames' student crowd started to show signs of life, and the players responded with a series of diving digs and solid spikes and blocks to seize a 12-7 lead and force a Wolfpack timeout.
After an N.C. State side out, Davis dinked a winner and a stuff block by sophomore outside hitter Nathan Bremmer extended Liberty's advantage to 15-8. Bernardo and Kinzler served aces to increase the edge to 18-10 before Culpepper caught the Wolfpack off guard with a second-ball hit and set up Rice for the kill, and a commanding 23-13 lead. A kill by Bremmer and game-winning spike by Bernardo off a block at the left side of the net extended the match to a fifth and final game.
Kills by Davis after a save by Kinzler tied Game 5 at 3-3 before an authoritative kill by Bernardo gave the Flames a 6-5 edge and Culpepper's stuff block down the line padded it to 7-5.
Service receive errors put the Flames in a 12-9 hole before a successful return by Bernardo and spike kill by Leach followed by Bremmer's kill from the outside trimmed the deficit to 13-12. A service error gave the Wolfpack two match points before Rice saved the first one. However, N.C. State setter Jeremyah Gaston's spike through a Liberty block ended the Flames' comeback bid and silenced the crowd.
Liberty hopes to carry the momentum from the comeback into next Monday night's showdown with perennial ECVA contender Virginia Tech back at the Liberty Arena.
"We have a lot of potential on this team," Rice said. "It comes down to service pressure, serve-receive, and if we can get our blocking together, those are the biggest three things. If you can keep them out of system, get yourself into system (spiking) falls into place and the kills will fall for sure."
"(Blocking is) one of the areas we really want to focus on," Knapp added. "Those are big plays for us that really change the energy and the flow of the game. We want to put a little more focus on making sure our middles are getting out to the ball, getting a double or triple option up as well as having better hands at the net, stopping or getting a positive block touch."
Virginia Tech will be hosting the ECVA South Championship at the end of March. Liberty recently found out that the ECVA Play Date that it was originally going to host has been moved to JMU on Feb. 8, the day after its Midnight Mayhem match against the University of North Carolina.
"The ECVA Play Date will be stacked up against the Midnight game," Knapp said. "That's one of the highlights of the season so … we'll handle that match and go to the tournament the next day. We talked about that as a program that we're confident in our team to be able to get one of the bids to go to the ECVA South Championship."
