Junior Zach Lamoureux shifted from outside to opposite hitter and led the DI Flames with 26 kills in the three matches at the East Coast Championships. (Photos by Ryan Anderson)
Men’s volleyball teams exit early from East Coast Championships at Maryland
4/8/2025 11:35:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
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Liberty's Division I team, which dropped to No. 19 in the NCVF rankings, was swept by No. 20 Florida and edged by the No. 15 host Terrapins in three games.
Liberty University's Division I and II men's volleyball teams were eliminated in pool play and in the quarterfinals of the playoffs, respectively, at Saturday's East Coast Championships, hosted by the University of Maryland in College Park, Md.
After being knocked out in the quarterfinals of last weekend's ECVA South Championships at Virginia Tech, the Flames' No. 19-ranked NCVF DI squad received an at-large bid to attend the East Coast event. Liberty was seeded fourth and finished third in its pool after being swept by No. 20 Florida, 25-21, 28-26, rallying to beat Ottawa, 25-27, 25-23, 15-10, and dropping a tight match to the No. 15-ranked host Terrapins, 25-18, 22-25, 15-11.
Third-year Head Coach Josh Knapp has the Flames focused on NCVF Nationals.
In the playoffs, Florida and Maryland, the two teams that advanced out of the Flames' pool, both advanced to the semifinals.
"They were definitely challenging matchups against those two teams, which were both winnable matches with plenty of close calls that we could have taken advantage of," Liberty Head Coach Josh Knapp said. "The team is finding connections on the court and working hard in the gym. It is more of a mental battle now, after a very long season, and we see who can step up and continue to perform at that high level."
Knapp noted the early exit could hurt the Flames' seeding for the April 17-19 NCVF Championships in Phoenix.
"This will drop us down a little bit for nationals, but when it comes down to it, you have to continue to win to move forward," he said "We have an opportunity to end up as the top team in the nation, and that is still the goal and mindset we're moving forward with."
Junior setter Josh Knapp returned from a lower-body injury to play Saturday at Maryland.
Junior setter Josh Culpepper returned from a lower-body injury aggravated in the ECVA South tournament to distribute 68 assists.
"Josh was able to play this past weekend for us, after (freshman) Isaac Oden (9 assists) started the first set (against Florida)," Knapp said. "We plan to give (Culpepper) a little more rest and recovery time as we go through this week and both of those setters will be ready to see the court at nationals. They both know the offense, and our hitters are ready to step up to the plate and deliver the hits no matter who is distributing the ball to them."
Junior Zach Lamoureux, who shifted from outside hitter and middle blocker — where he has platooned in previous matches — to opposite hitter, where he excelled, spiking 27 kills to pace the Flames' attack.
"We let Zach Lamoureux find a bit of a rhythm, and he was a commanding presence on that right side," Knapp said.
Sophomore Josh Davis switched from opposite to outside hitter at Maryland.
Lamoureux was complemented by sophomore Josh Davis, who switched from opposite to outside hitter and spiked 17 kills, as well as senior middle blocker Jayden Rice and sophomore outside hitter Anthony Bernardo, who both contributed 12 kills.
"Previously, Josh (Davis) has played all across the board in the front row, but he is more familiar with the outside, and his blocking has been looking more dominant," Knapp said.
Junior Zach Bell served five aces in the three matches, and Lamoureux delivered three. Freshman middle blocker Austin Leach paced the Flames with five blocks while Rice contributed three. Sophomore libero John Kinzler made 28 digs, complemented by Bernardo's 19 and freshman utility player Wyatt Colestock's 13.
"We had a great (defensive) performance shutting down their main options with our blocking, but we struggled a little bit on our service-receive," Knapp said. "We will be putting more effort and time into that in practices this week, as well as trying to get teams more out of system with our service pressure."
Liberty's DII team was dominated by Penn State (ranked No. 2 in NCVF Division III) in its opening match, 25-14, 25-18, before defeating Binghamton (N.Y.) nearly as decisively, 25-12, 25-22, and Syracuse's No. 10-ranked C team equally so, 25-12, 25-20, to finish second to the Nittany Lions in pool play.
However, in the playoffs, the Flames lost to Syracuse's B team, 25-22, 25-22.
At nationals, both the DI and DII teams will play in 48-team tournament fields, with pool play on the first two days followed by gold, silver, and bronze bracket playoffs (16 teams in each) that will be single-elimination for the quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship match on the final day.
"The gold bracket is our goal for both teams," Knapp said.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer The Flames have rotated players along the front row and at setter, where Culpepper (left) has returned to orchestrate the offense.
