Men’s volleyball sweeps Hokies with big blocks, strong service pressure, and timely digs and spikes

Monday, February 3

Lynchburg, VA

7:00 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

Virginia Tech

Outside hitter Zach Bell (8 kills), libero John Kinzler (11 digs), outside hitter Anthony Bernardo (8 kills, 2 aces), opposite hitter Josh Davis (15 kills), and middle hitter Austin Leach celebrate a kill. (Photos by Ryan Anderson)

Men’s volleyball sweeps Hokies with big blocks, strong service pressure, and timely digs and spikes

2/3/2025 11:08:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

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Liberty ended its two-match skid at the Liberty Arena, and prevented a third straight reverse sweep by Virginia Tech, behind Josh Davis' 15 kills, scrappy defense, and solid blocking and hitting.

Gallery: (2-3-2025) Men's volleyball vs. Virginia Tech

Even leading 2-0 against perennial ECVA South power Virginia Tech, Liberty University's men's volleyball team remained relentless going into the third set against its biggest rival Monday night in Liberty Arena.

"Tonight was a vengeance match, for sure, especially after my freshman year and sophomore year, when we were reverse swept by them both times," said junior middle blocker Zach Lamoureux, who contributed three kills and four blocks in the Flames' 25-21, 25-16, 25-18 sweep. "Absolutely, we tried to use that momentum after that break between the (second and third) sets to come back and hit them hard, keeping our blocking there and our offensive pressure up."

Since dropping a five-game home match to North Carolina State and being swept by the University of Virginia in the season, Liberty focused its practices on blocking, Lamoureux's strength, as well as defense and serving, which was also much improved from the Flames' first two matches.

"Starting from the UVA game, that left a bitter taste in our mouths, so we started hitting the ground a lot, just a lot of diving to get our defense up, especially, and then our blocking just worked around that to perfect everything," Lamoureux said.

A spike kill by sophomore outside hitter Anthony Bernardo (8 kills, 2 aces) broke a 10-10 tie in Liberty's favor in Game 1 before 17 made a diving dig save in the middle and sophomore opposite hitter Josh Davis (3 blocks, 7 digs) spiked one of his 15 kills on the night from the right side.

"In prepping for Tech this past week, we knew we had to shut them down at the net to really get rid of that rhythm that they play with," Flames Head Coach Josh Knapp said. "They play with a lot of energy and they're one of our biggest competitions throughout the year, so we were really working with Josh (Davis) on getting to that line and pressing in, taking away that ball, and he showed that he could handle that side of the game very well tonight."

Service errors allowed the Hokies to tie the game at 15 before Liberty rebounded to seize a 19-17 advantage on a kill by middle hitter Jayden Rice off a block. Lamoreaux spiked an authoritative kill from the middle after a block by junior setter Josh Culpepper (35 assists, 9 digs) on the right side.

"Zach Lamoureux's block has always been the best part of his game, and he showed that he could be an offensive weapon and also stop that ball at the net for us," Knapp said. "Across the board, everyone played their role, did what they had to do, and played as one team today."

In the point of the game, Davis stuffed a block on the right side after two diving dig saves by sophomore libero John Kinzler (11 digs), setting up game point, which Bernardo clinched with a kill.

"John Kinzler really stepped up on the defensive side," Knapp said. "We've put a lot of effort into making sure we're giving full effort on the ground across the entire board of our guys laying out at practice and changing our mentality on that side of the game, to really take over teams at the net and on our defensive side of the play. We showed that we can work together in one system and those guys working side by side playing as one unit."

Lamoureux started Game 2 with a powerful spike for a 1-0 lead before keeping the second and third points alive with blocks and finishing the third with a spike winner and 3-0 lead. The Flames stretched their lead to 8-1 on Bernardo's serve, including back-to-back aces, prompting a Virginia Tech timeout.

"The guys were staying aggressive on that service line, Anthony (Bernardo) specifically," Knapp said. "He really got us going on some good service runs with that topspin serve from that back line."

Errors by the Hokies allowed Liberty to extend its lead to 14-2 before another Tech timeout. Virginia Tech climbed its way back into the match by capitalizing on Flames mistakes before Bernardo's stuff block at the left side boosted Liberty's lead to 18-6 and another by Lamoureux in the middle ended a scoring skid and made it 19-10. Davis' spike kill from the left side pushed the Flames' lead to 20-11 before Zach Bell's from the same spot increased it to 21-13. Davis' cross-court kill from the right side and another down the right line put Liberty up 23-15 before Culpepper closed out the game on by winning a jump ball at middle for the 25-16 triumph.

"This is probably (Culpepper's) fourth or fifth practice he's been back (after studying overseas in Japan in the fall) and he's slowly finding his footing again," Knapp said. "He's been showing at practice and through some of these matches that he deserves to be on that court, and he can lead, and we have a lot of confidence in that offense. He's a great aspect for us to carry this offense forward and to keep those guys connected as one."

Lamoureux tied Game 3 at 3 with a powerful kill at middle before starting a service run that included a spike by Davis and kill by freshman middle hitter Austin Leach. A kill by Davis at the right side gave the Flames a 6-4 advantage.

Back-to-back hits by Bernardo at the left side padded the lead to 8-6 before a stuff block by Lamoureux and spike by Davis off a Hokies block stretched it to 11-8. Culpepper sent a backwards set to Bernardo on the right side for a powerful kill. After another ace and solid serve and back-row spike by Bernardo, Bell's quick-reflex, one-handed freeball kill followed by Davis' stuff block on the right side put the Flames in control, up 18-11.

The Hokies ran off three points in a row before a service error ended their streak. A back-row dig by Bernardo, cross-court set by Culpepper and kill by Bell off a block made it 20-14 before a Leach kill prompted another Tech timeout, with time running out for a comeback.

Bernardo spiked the winner on the best point of the third game to put the Flames up 24-18 before Kinzler served out the match.

Liberty will return to the Arena for its fourth and final home match this season on Friday for its annual Midnight Mayhem matchup, against the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

"Guys looked great today, and the crowd was awesome to support us throughout that match and really rally behind them," Knapp said. "It gives us a lot of energy on the court. It's great to see that improvement over those three matches we've had in the Arena so far."

"This is a huge win for us to give us some confidence in the Arena to defend this home court behind a home crowd for that big Midnight game," he added, noting that the team is sending out flyers, posters, and Instagram posts to promote the match, which has a $4 admission. "Our guys are just trying to connect with that campus side, so we're looking to have a great show-out. We know it will be a good weekend from the Athletics side of things with basketball games in here, too, but we hope the campus comes out and supports us. We really need them on Friday."

Lamoureux expects a much-improved Tar Heels team from what the Flames faced last year when they won the Midnight Mayhem matchup in four games.

"We've got to use our Wednesday practice and get some morning practices in to really give it to them on Friday and then roll into Saturday for our (ECVA South) tournament at JMU," he said, noting the quick turnaround before the season's only conference Play Date in Harrisonburg, Va.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer