Racquetball players compete in final MACRC tournament at UNC, prep for National Championships at NC State

Friday, February 21

Chapel Hill, NC

5:00 PM / 8:00 AM / 8:00 AM

Liberty University Club Sports

MACRC-3

Liberty may have clinched first place in the MACRC standings with its strong showing at the third of four tournaments at UNC Chapel Hill over the weekend.

Racquetball players compete in final MACRC tournament at UNC, prep for National Championships at NC State

2/25/2025 5:49:00 PM | Racquetball

Liberty will send a veteran squad to nationals, held for the second time in nine seasons at NC State from March 27-29.

Raquetball team portrait action collage UNC

Liberty University's men's and women's racquetball teams posted several top-five finishes at the third of four Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Racquetball Conference tournaments, held this past Friday through Sunday at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

"We have a strong team this year," Head Coach Danny Rodriguez said. "Our men's team is strong all the way through, and our women's team is strong at the top. We should have a pretty good turnout at (the USA Racquetball National Championships) next month."

In women's singles, senior Paige Jordan defeated Lady Flames senior teammate Natalie Blank in the Division 1-2 championship match and sophomore Amber Fredenburg and sophomore Madisyn Leyendecker won their third- and fifth-place finals, respectively.

Meanwhile, in Division 3-4, junior Isobel Priest finished runner-up while her sister, sophomore Maggie Priest, won her consolation final for third place over Liberty teammate Amelia Bennett and fellow freshman Erin Locklin captured fifth place.

The women's doubles bracket was a combination of Division 1-4 players and featured an all-Lady Flames final with the duo of Jordan and Blank teaming up to defeat Fredenburg and Leyendecker for first place. Maggie Priest and Bennett lost their consolation final match to take fourth place and Locklin and Isobel Priest won their fifth-place match.

For the men, sophomore Matthew Cook defeated Flames graduate teammate Luke Hagberg in the Division I singles final while sophomore Zion Kim topped Liberty senior Andrew Cook in the third-place match. In Division 2, junior Nathaniel Cook beat senior Bryce Metz in the consolation final for third place; in Division 3, junior Malachi Vander Pol claimed third place and sophomore Drew Berthiaume finished fifth; and in Division 4 of the Olympic Red format, freshman Jared Hollins earned third place.

In Division 1-2 men's doubles, Andrew Cook and Matthew Cook prevailed against Kim and Hagberg in the championship final while Nathaniel Cook and senior Bryce Metz landed in sixth place. Vander Pol and Berthiaume won the Division 3-4 bracket and Hollins teamed up with a player from another university for fifth place.

This was the final MACRC tournament before the Flames and Lady Flames compete in the March 27-29 USA Racquetball Intercollegiate National Championships, held for the second time in nearby Raleigh, N.C. However, a fourth and final MACRC tournament, rescheduled by recent snow, is tentatively planned for April 4-6 at a location to be determined.
Racquetball bus trip UNC action shots