Sophomore outside hitter Anthony Bernardo spikes off a blocker during the Flames' last of four matches this season at the Liberty Arena. (Photos by Ryan Anderson)
Men’s volleyball sweeps NCAA Division III opponents Randolph-Macon, Roanoke
3/22/2025 10:53:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
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Liberty caught the ODAC-leading Yellow Jackets by surprise in the opener, winning in three straight, before taking the Maroons to five games in a back-and-forth battle.
Since placing second out of 16 teams at the Hoosier-Illini tournament in mid-February, Liberty University's Division I men's volleyball team competed for the first time in more than a month on Friday night in Salem, Va., posting wins over two NCAA Division III opponents.
The Flames defeated two Old Dominion Athletic Conference foes, sweeping Randolph-Macon College, 25-13, 25-23, 25-23, before rallying past host Roanoke College in five games, 13-25, 25-20, 25-16, 18-25, 15-10.
"We had a really good showing out there, and it was a really good trial run after coming back from Spring Break," Liberty Head Coach Josh Knapp said. "We see Roanoke every year, and we lost to them early in the fall semester when went to preseason tournament at Virginia Tech. We had not seen Randolph-Macon College before we watched them beat Roanoke. We appreciate both of those ODAC schools being willing to play us as preparation for our last three postseason tournaments."
The Flames' Division I and II teams will travel to Virginia Tech next Saturday to play in the ECVA South Championships, where they will be in the hunt for autobids to the East Coast Championships on April 5 at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md. That tournament and the final regular-season rankings will determine seedings for the NCVF National Championships in Phoenix from April 17-20.
"As we've been ramping up through this semester, and with the great results we got to see on Friday night, we are excited to take that momentum into our postseason," Knapp said. "We are feeling strong and consistent and hoping to continue to take those steps toward the goals we want to see moving forward."
He conceded that both the Yellow Jackets and the Maroons used mostly reserve players in their matches against the Flames.
"Neither squad played fully with their starters," Knapp said. "Randolph had a few of backups in after its long match against Roanoke, and we were able to show up in the first set and make adjustments."
Liberty followed suit, switching some of its bench players in and returning to its starters on key points.
"Everybody was able to see a lot of volleyball as we played our entire squad," Knapp said. "We'll be dipping deep into our roster for our postseason tournaments, so we wanted to make sure we're capable and confident in all of the athletes on our roster, starters and backups, to be able to step up into those positions and run those systems."
Sophomore outside hitter Anthony Bernardo spiked 12 kills and made 10 digs to spark the attack against Roanoke College with senior opposite hitter Josh Davis adding eight kills, freshman middle blocker Austin Leach contributing five kills and five blocks, freshman Wyatt Colestock spiking seven kills and serving two aces, senior middle blocker Jayden Rice spiking five kills, and junior setter Josh Culpepper distributing 37 assists as well as hitting three kills and serving three aces.
"Culpepper was doing a great job of keeping our middle blockers involved with Rice and Leach really engaged in both matches," Knapp said. "Both are very proficient in their hitting for us, really opening up our offensive options. Josh was also able to spread our offense to our pins with Anthony (Bernard) and (Josh) Davis complementing each other on opposite ends of the net."
He noted that Culpepper has been bringing back his topspin serve, challenging opponents with pace and placement.
Against Randolph-Macon, Bernardo had 11 kills to pace the attack while Davis and junior Zach Lamoureux, who shifted between outside hitter and middle blocker, both added seven kills, followed by Leach (five) and Rice (four).
"We played really clean volleyball," Knapp said. "We played very consistently, and stayed in our systems, with a lot of movement in system and through our service-receive lines, as well as aggressive serving, putting pressure on their service receive."
Trailing 23-21 in the second set, freshman Dylan Gable, a left-handed serving sub, delivered four aces in a row to finish off the match.
"He came through for us in the end, and our guys showed great concentration and focus," Knapp said.
He said Lamoureux, while not as consistent as Bernardo, added another weapon to the arsenal.
"He is a very versatile and super aggressive option that we trust to put a lot of pace on the ball," Knapp said. "He shows great leadership on the court, adding to our team mentality."
Defensively, sophomore libero John Kinzler combined for 37 digs in the two matches.
"He has been stepping up at that position, and doing a really amazing job," Knapp said. "We want to beat teams on the defensive side, so those systems are very foundational for us. Our goal is to get that ball to him on defense, and outlast teams with our consistency and with the pressure we put on them offensively."
Overall, Knapp was pleased with the attention to detail and the overall effort his players are showing on the court.
"We were able to control (Friday's matches) with the aggressive serving as well as the intention and focus our athletes are putting into our systems," he said. "We had a lot of defensive rallies, and they were getting back on defense, being tuned into every play on the court, and we are continuing to see that effort and hustle (during games)."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer The Flames huddle up during their Midnight Match, a five-game victory over UNC Chapel Hill on Feb. 7 at the Liberty Arena.
