Lady Flames senior Madisyn Leyendecker prepares to hit a forehand and Flames senior Matthew Cook a backhand during a tournament held last February at Liberty's racquetball courts. (Photos by Grace Greer)
Racquetball teams make a racket at first MACRC tournament on home courts
10/8/2026 12:13:00 PM | Racquetball
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The Flames finished runner-up to North Carolina State, which brought 10 men’s players, while the Lady Flames, with five players, dominated the rest of the field.
With Liberty University's men's and women's racquetball teams coming off their fifth consecutive top-five combined finish at last spring's USA Racquetball Collegiate National Championships in Minneapolis, second-year Head Coach Trevor Melton is working to revive or at least preserve the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Racquetball Conference this season after participation fell off considerably last year.
The former No. 1 player, captain, and spiritual Disciple Maker for the Flames, who took the helm from founding Head Coach Danny Rodriguezlast summer, has worked with the MACRC tournament director to schedule more tournaments this fall and spring. Last weekend, the Flames and Lady Flames hosted their first MACRC event in a few seasons, on the four LaHaye Recreation & Fitness Center courts.
Liberty entered 12 players — seven men and five women — in the tournament with senior Matthew Cook winning both the Division 1 men's singles and doubles brackets, teaming up with graduate Malachi Vander Pol.
"Though this was their first tournament playing together, Matthew and Malachi were the favorites going into it," Melton said.
Lady Flames senior Maggie Priest swept the Division 1 women's singles and doubles crowns, playing with senior Amelia Bennett, who finished third in Division 1 women's singles.
Cook edged his older brother, graduate Andrew Cook, in the Division I singles final, with Andrew Cook also teaming up with a player from the University of Virginia to finish third out of four teams in the Division 1 doubles draw.
Additionally, senior Seth Castro placed third in the Division 3 men's singles bracket and junior Jared Hollins finished third in Division 4 men's singles.
"Maggie (Priest) won all of her matches pretty comfortably, and the same was the case with Matthew (Cook) until playing his brother in the finals," Melton said. "Matthew is consistently getting better, and Andrew played well, too, in his matches leading into the final, which was fun to watch."
Liberty seized an early lead in the overall MACRC team standings, with 1,166 points, a combination of its men's runner-up total of 716 and women's first-place showing with 450. NC State, which entered 10 men into the tournament at Liberty, leads the men's standings with 794 points, with the Flames followed by third-place Virginia (202). NC State's women rank second to the Lady Flames with 120 points and the Wolfpack also trail Liberty in the combined standings with 914 points. Head Coach Trevor Melton watches action in a tournament hosted by Liberty last February at the LaHaye Recreation & Fitness Center.
"We had a decent turnout, but not like the tournaments we used to have," Melton said, noting the next MACRC tournament is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 6-8 at NC State. "There are a couple other schools interested in going to that one. After last year when we only had one tournament, I am trying to reach out and get approval to reserve our courts for more tournaments, and the conference is getting more organized."
He contacted the University of Maryland, and the MACRC Tournament Director has been in conversations with other teams from South Carolina and Georgia since the Southeast doesn't have a conference this year.
"They didn't make it up to Virginia, but they indicated that they might be able to come to Raleigh (N.C.)," Melton said. "We are always excited to play some new competition and see how some of the other schools are looking."
Additionally, Melton has invited James Madison University and Virginia to participate in a small scrimmage at Liberty on Oct. 24. He also extended the invitation to Virginia Tech and VMI, but they don't currently offer club-level teams.
He hopes to find more competition for the team as it looks to send its top players to Arizona in late March for the USA Racquetball National Championships.
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer; Video edited by Andrew Musser/Club Sports Video & Media freelancer
