Liberty's three front-line players combine for a block against Virginia during a season-opening Midnight Mayhem sweep of the Cavaliers at Liberty Arena. (Photos by Grace Greer)
Flames ousted by Cavaliers in three-set semifinal at East Coast Championships
3/22/2026 12:21:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
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Five of Liberty’s six matches on the day went to three games, including the semifinal against the eventual tournament champions.
Liberty University's No. 14-ranked Division I men's volleyball team advanced to the semifinals of the East Coast Championships for the first time since 2022 before falling to the University of Virginia for the third time in four meetings this season, Saturday at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md.
The fourth-seeded Flames advanced through pool play the hard way, going 3-0 but needing three sets to pull out two of those matches before also winning their quarterfinal match and losing in the semis in three sets.
Liberty defeated Pennsylvania, 25-14, 25-27, 15-8, No. 15 Clemson, 25-22, 25-10, and Syracuse, 25-27, 25-21, 15-9, to win its pool. Liberty junior middle blocker Austin Leach (4) and outside hitter Nate Bremmer put up a block against the Cavaliers in the season opener.
"The guys really have a lot of character and have been through a lot of adversity, and they dug deep in those three-game matches," Liberty interim Head Coach Bryan Rigg said. "A lot of times we fell down a set and rallied back to win the next two."
He said senior outside hitter Zach Bell went on a few clutch service runs, as did senior setter Josh Culpepper, and outside hitters Connor Cranage, a sophomore, junior Nate Bremmer, and freshman Jack Byers carried the team offensively.
"They're three of the best outside hitters, and they played very physical, with a lot of grit, determination, and hard work," Rigg said. "They did a great job, as did Josh (Culpepper) and senior (opposite hitter) Zach Lamoureux who led the way." Senior setter Josh Culpepper ran the offense effectively throughout the day, leading the Flames to a 5-1 record in the tournament.
The quarterfinal match pitted the Flames against Rutgers, an unranked opponent that had knocked No. 2-ranked and No. 1-seeded Virginia Tech out in pool play. Liberty rallied from a one-set deficit to defeat the Scarlet Knights, 21-25, 25-20, 19-17.
In the semifinal, Liberty won the first set before allowing the Cavaliers to stage a 25-27, 25-19, 15-10 comeback victory to advance to the final against No. 10-ranked tournament host Maryland. After defeating the Terrapins in pool play, UVA also prevailed in the final, 25-21, 12-25, 15-10.
"Even when we beat them, it's always close," Rigg said of Virginia. "They're a really good passing team, and their offense runs through Christian Walsh, who is a great blocker, a great setter, and has the best serve of anybody we've ever played against. He's as gifted as (Flames senior) Josh (Culpepper) as a setter, and an even better hitter because he's crafty. They are really creative in getting him all the looks he wants, and he sees the block and hits it where he wants to hit it, and he never gets blocked."
UVA started the third set on a 5-0 run and maintained that advantage until the end.
"By the time we got it together, two of our guys were cramping up, and we had to stop the game twice," Rigg said. "It was a long day of volleyball, going three games in all but one of their matches, and they didn't have the physical energy they needed to finish the game." The Flames, including freshmen Jack Byers (13) and Ian McKee (center), celebrate a point against Virginia at the Liberty Arena.
"We were so close to coming home with a trophy, and I think it will give us a pretty good ranking and a No. 1 seed in our pool going into (the April 2-4 NCVF National Championships in Kansas City)," he added. "Hopefully, we'll be ranked in the top 12, which would help us to navigate the rest of the way."
Liberty's Division II team, coached by Stephen Patag and Tait Lapham — who will lead the team at nationals as Patag has a prior commitment — rallied to beat Canisius (N.Y.) College, 17-25, 25-20, 25-21. After falling to Florida, 25-19, 23-25, 15-9, the Flames rebounded to defeat Maryland 29-27, 25-22 in their final pool play match.
Facing the No. 2-seeded Naval Academy in the quarterfinals, the Flames were eliminated, 25-18, 25-18. Sophomore opposite hitter Liam Reinmuth was named to the All-ECVA South First Team after the conference championship tournament hosted by Liberty on March 7.
