Beach volleyball goes 2-1 in Tennessee, 3-0 in North Carolina over past two weekends

The Lady Flames hosted the Liberty Invitational Beach Tournament March 6-7. (Photo by Matt Reynolds)

Beach volleyball goes 2-1 in Tennessee, 3-0 in North Carolina over past two weekends

3/25/2026 3:43:00 PM | Women's Beach Volleyball

The Lady Flames recorded victories over NCAA DII and DIII opponents, only falling to DII Carson-Newman

Fresh off a 2-1 showing at the Carson-Newman University (Tenn.) Invitational March 14, Liberty University's women's beach volleyball team earned a three-game weekend sweep at the Wingate University (N.C.) Invitational last Friday and Saturday.

The Lady Flames opened Friday's competition with a 4-1 win over the host NCAA DII Bulldogs. They then continued their dominant weekend with 5-0 victories against junior colleges Wake Tech (N.C.) Community College and Richard Bland College on Saturday, with all their pairings winning in straight sets.

Head Coach Payton Carter Davis said she was encouraged by the team's resilience and adaptability early in the 2026 campaign, noting her student-athletes have often been required to compete with different partners during competition.

"(Because of) different things outside of our control, we've had to switch some partnerships (and) I've seen a lot of ability to play with any person on the team. That (requires) a high-level skill," she said. "The flexibility of coming in and playing well with anybody has been great. The communication has really picked up on the court, so that's been nice."
Davis also credited her team's high-level serving prowess and improvements in setting skills for leading them to match success.

On March 14, Liberty recorded a 5-0 win over Regent University, a first-year program, before defeating cross-town rival NCAA DIII University of Lynchburg, 4-1. Following these victories, the Lady Flames met their match in a tough battle against tournament host Carson-Newman, an NCAA DII opponent, dropping all five matches to the Eagles.
The Lady Flames will face the Hornets for the third time this season Thursday night at the University of Lynchburg Invitational.

"We'll have some girls missing at this tournament too, so some partnerships will have to switch up again," she said. "But with their flexibility that I've seen, I have full confidence in them we'll have a good tournament this weekend. It will be fun to play Lynchburg for a third time. It's hard to beat a team that many times in a season. It's really hard to beat a team two times in a row, and we already have. So, I'm proud of them for that."

Liberty will conclude the Lynchburg Invitational with a match against DIII opponent Southern Virginia University on Thursday before dual matches against NCAA DIII Stevenson (Md.) University and Regent on Friday.

As the Lady Flames continue to face high levels of competition against NCAA programs, Davis said she consistently receives praise from other teams and even event officials for the team's success as a Club Sports program.

"I've just seen a growth in the program over the past few years in the level of play, the intensity on the court, and their competitive drive of 'We can beat this team, so let's do it.' Rather than 'I hope we beat this team. Let's work hard,' it's more of, 'We're going to win,'" she said. "I see a competitive drive in them, which is huge for me as a coach. That's a hard mindset to coach someone to have, so the fact they are pouring into each other and encouraging each other to have that mindset is really awesome to see."

(March 14 at Carson-Newman Invitational in Jefferson City, Tenn.)

Carson Newman 5, Liberty 0
1. Anna Moody/Jo Malone lost 21-17, 23-21
2. Cambre Phillips/Jessa Matthews lost 21-15, 21-12
3. Brie Olson/Kate Walters lost 21-12, 21-6
4. Kate Richards/Kinley Phillips lost 21-15, 21-5
5. Gracie Hall/Lea Tsamadias lost 21-15, 21-17
6. Sydnee Przemielewski/Mallory Taylor lost 21-10, 21-8

Liberty 5, Regent 0

Liberty 4, Lynchburg 1

(March 20-21 at Wingate University Invitational in Wingate, N.C.)

Liberty 5, Wake Tech 0
1. Moody/Malone won 21-13, 21-19
2. C. Phillips/Matthews won 21-11, 21-10
3. Eliza Griffin/Walters won 21-19, 21-13
4. Richards/K. Phillips won 21-4, 21-9
5. Hall/Tsamadias won 21-7, 21-13
6. CJ Johnson/Sarah Tluczek won 21-17, 21-13

Liberty 4, Wingate 1
1. Moody/Malone lost 21-13, 21-12
2. C. Phillips/Matthews won 21-17, 23-21
3. Griffin/Walters won 21-17, 20-22, 15-11
4. Richards/K. Phillips won 11-21, 21-10, 15-10
5. Tsamadias/Johnson won 21-19, 12-21, 15-13
6. Przemielewski/Taylor lost 21-17, 21-19

Liberty 5, Richard Bland 0
1. Moody/Malone won 21-16, 21-14
2. C. Philips/Matthews won 21-16, 21-18
3. Griffin/Walters won 21-16, 21-17
4. Richards/K. Phillips won 21-16, 21-7
5. Johnson/Tsamadias won 21-15, 21-15