Women's ultimate team opens spring competition at Queen City Tune-Up

Saturday, February 14

Rock Hill, SC

8:30 AM

Liberty University Club Sports

Queen City Tune Up

Liberty has some high-level tournaments coming up before the Virginia Conference Championships from April 10-11 and the East Coast Regional Championships from May 4-5

Women's ultimate team opens spring competition at Queen City Tune-Up

2/20/2026 5:11:00 PM | Women's Ultimate

Seeded 17th out of 20 teams in the tournament, Liberty held its own against some extremely challenging competition.

Liberty University's women's ultimate Frisbee team traveled to Rock Hill, S.C., to compete in the Queen City Tune-Up, a USA Ultimate-sanctioned tournament this past Saturday and Sunday. The Lady Flames were seeded 17th out of 20 teams and finished 14th after going 2-4 — 1-3 in Saturday's pool play and 1-1 in Sunday's playoffs.

"This was a great first tournament as it allowed our team to play at a higher level than we have seen before and match our strategies against some of the top in the nation," Assistant Coach Mikayla Johnson said. "We emphasized our team verse (Luke 16:10) a lot, of being faithful in the little things."

In pool play, Liberty lost to top-seeded Vermont (10-9), No. 8 Texas (11-5), and No. 16 Wisconsin (11-8) before upsetting No. 9-seeded Pittsburgh, 9-8. Then in bracket play, the Lady Flames defeated No. 13 William & Mary, 11-8, before falling to No. 7 Virginia, 8-4.

The tournament was won by No. 2 Tufts (Mass.) University, which defeated No. 5 Pennsylvania, 15-14, in the championship final. Complete results are available on the USA Ultimate website.

The team was anchored by core handlers such as graduate Grace Wilson, senior Marina Abila, and sophomore Mallory Clark. They were complemented by junior Elizabeth May and freshman Sylvia Janssens, who also contributed to keeping the disc alive on the field.

"Elizabeth had a great tournament in the handler space, keeping her calm against some tough opponents," Johnson said.

Standout cutters included sophomore Maddie Clark, freshman Samantha "S.J." Grimes, senior Evalee Baker, graduate Kali Grayson, and senior Abby Lasko, who helped to maintain the offensive flow and allow the Lady Flames to break away from opposing defenses.

"S.J. had a breakthrough weekend, being a key player on offense," Johnson said.

On defense, the Lady Flames employed both man-to-man defense and zone coverage due to wind and rain over the weekend.

"(Senior) Ella Padgett, (junior) Sarah Dickerson, and Elizabeth May played well in the cup, stifling other teams from working the disc up the field," Johnson said. "Mallory Clark was our leading defender, with 13 Ds (defensive breakups or forced turnovers) over the course of the weekend."

She added that senior Haylee Goral had a great weekend hustling on the field and pumping the Lady Flames up from on the sideline.

Liberty, which won a highly competitive Alumni Game on Jan. 31 at the Liberty Multipurpose Center, has four more high-level tournaments this season before the May 2-3 Atlantic Coast Regional Championships in Glen Allen, Va. On Feb. 28-March 1, the Lady Flames will compete in the Commonwealth Cup in Axton, Va. Then, over Spring Break, they will travel to Myrtle Beach, S.C., to both compete against and serve other teams while sharing the love of Christ at this week-long tournament from March 13-20.

A week later, Liberty will travel to the East Coast Invite set for March 28-29 in Frederica, Del, before returning to Glen Allen, Va., to play in the Virginia Conference Championships from April 11-12, the qualifier for regionals.

By Amory Doyle/Student Writer