Men’s ultimate team, seeded third, goes 4-2 and finishes fifth in home tournament

Saturday, February 28

Lynchburg, VA

TBA

Liberty University Club Sports

Oak Creek Tournament

Members of Liberty's men's ultimate team show their wilder side after Saturday's pool play. (Photos by Grace Greer)

Men’s ultimate team, seeded third, goes 4-2 and finishes fifth in home tournament

3/3/2026 4:36:00 PM | Men's Ultimate

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The Flames played without their two main handlers for Sunday’s playoffs and lost their opener to the eventual tournament champion.

Gallery: (3-3-2026) Men's ultimate in Oak Creek Challenge

After having its season-opening tournament snowed out in early February, Liberty University's men's ultimate team hosted the 12-team Oak Creek Challenge this past Friday and Saturday at the Liberty Mountain Intramural Complex.

"This was the first time the Oak Creek Challenge has come to Lynchburg," Flames Head Coach Kevin Habermas said, noting it has been held in Virginia Beach in the past and last year Liberty placed ninth out of 12 teams after starting 0-3 in pool play in 40 mph winds in Frederick, Md. "It was a beautiful weekend and a good tournament. We received a ton of compliments on how nice our facilities are and how well everything was run."

Seeded third out of 12 teams, Liberty went 2-1 in Saturday's pool play and 2-1 in Sunday's bracket play to finish fifth.

In pool play, the Flames defeated No. 9 Rutgers (N.Y.) University 13-9 before pulling out a 10-8 triumph over North Carolina State's B team and falling to No. 4 West Chester (Pa.) University, 11-7. After losing to No. 5-seeded eventual tournament champion Kenyon (Ohio) College in the first round of Sunday's playoffs, 13-9, Liberty regrouped to hold seed against No. 8 Rochester Institute of Technology, 13-7, and No. 7 East Carolina University, 13-11, in the fifth-place final.

"We played well overall," Habermas said. "The couple that we lost, we didn't have our best games because we didn't run our systems very well. I thought we could compete with those guys under normal circumstances. There are a few things we can learn from those losses that we can fix to really help us going into (the Virginia) Conference Championships. It was a good team lesson to have, and we'll be better for it in the end. I am excited to get back at it and practice and improve on those mistakes."

He said this is the deepest team he has ever coached, and the Flames received valuable contributions from numerous players.

"(Junior) Emerson Sites-Byers might have had the best weekend of everyone overall, offensively and defensively," Habermas said. "He really stepped up. Offensively, (sophomore handler and captain) Micah Moore (and junior captain) Rupert Armentrout played well, and we had a bunch of rookies, first-year guys, that stepped up, too. (Freshmen) Avery (Levandoski and) Luke Billingsley and (junior) Caedmon Eng all really helped out our defensive line."

The Flames lost Moore to injury late in pool play and their other primary handler, senior Sterling Payne, was also unavailable for Sunday's playoffs as he is the youth pastor at his church.

"We bounced back after having a disappointing loss to Kenyon, and I was proud of the guys," Habermas said. "(Junior) Brody Johnson and Avery Levandoski stepped into the handler roles on the O-line, and our D-line stepped up and played well (against RIT and ECU). They executed well on offense when we got possession of the disc. There are a few tweaks we need to do in learning to play against different defensive sets that can throw off your rhythm and seamlessly move into offense."

He is hopeful Moore will return from his injury in time for the conference tournament.

"We've got a tough conference with William & Mary, Virginia, and Virginia Tech always very strong and JMU and George Mason are typically tough," Habermas said, noting the Patriots had an off day by going 0-3 in Saturday's pool play. "They are more talented than they played."

Complete results are available online.

A dozen or more team members are planning to travel to the High Tide Tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C., March 15-19, to help serve and play in the tournament and witness to other players and beachgoers over spring break. The Flames will then travel as a complete team to compete in the March 21-22 Atlantic Coast Open at the Smith River Sports Complex in Axton, Va., which will feature a stronger and deeper field of 24 teams.

Liberty will then travel back to Axton to compete in the April 11-12 Virginia Conference Championships and look to qualify for the May 2-3 Atlantic Coast Regionals in Glen Allen, Va., for the sixth time in the last eight seasons with a high enough finish.

By Ted Allen/Staff Writer