Women's ultimate places 10th out of 32 teams at East Coast Invite

Sunday, March 29

Frederica, DE

11:40 AM-3:10 PM

Liberty University Club Sports

East Coast Invite

Graduate handler Grace Wilson distributes the disc during a match at this past weekend's East Coast Invite.

Women's ultimate places 10th out of 32 teams at East Coast Invite

4/1/2026 12:08:00 PM | Women's Ultimate

In their final tournament before the April 11-12 Conference Championships, the Lady Flames staged some quality wins and gave top-seeded Pennsylvania a competitive game.

Liberty University's women's ultimate team traveled to Frederica, Del., to compete in USA Ultimate's East Coast Invite this past Saturday and Sunday. The 17th-seeded Lady Flames finished 10th out of 32 teams.

The tournament used Swiss Rounds for Saturday's pool play, with teams assigned their first opponents based on seeding before being matched up against teams with similar wins-loss records through bracket play.

On Saturday, the Lady Flames barely beat No. 32 Connecticut, 7-6, before upsetting No. 9 New York University, 9-7, and No. 4 Middlebury (Vt.) College, 13-12, and falling to No. 1 Pennsylvania University, 12-8.

That game was streamed live on Ultiworld, a news and highlight reporting site for the sport of ultimate. The Lady Flames received a shout-out from one of the site's articles highlighting the weekend tournament.

The game against Pennsylvania showcased the skills of the Lady Flames well, as they made several layout catches to keep the disc alive, and finished their drives with some well-executed scoring plays. The team played Pennsylvania once before this tournament matchup at the Commonwealth Cup, where the final score was 13-7.

"We closed the gap in the four weeks since we had seen them last, showing that the players have put in the work at practices," Assistant Coach Mikayla Johnson said. "This game gave us key takeaways to continue to work on at practices before heading to Conference Championships."

On Sunday, Liberty defeated No. 12 Kenyon (Ohio) University, 12-5, before falling to No. 5 Notre Dame University, 9-5.

Blustery weather conditions provided a challenge all weekend, with consistent 15-20-mph winds impeding teams' offensive efficiency. Liberty was led by main handlers Grace Wilson, a graduate student, senior Marina Abila, sophomore Mallory Clark, and senior Abby Lasko. Offensively, senior Haylee Goral had a great weekend, making sharp cuts to get open through challenging defensive formations and resetting the disc to a handler.

Sophomore Maddie Clark led the team in goals, receiving 28 passes in the end zone. Wilson led the team in with 23 assists, capitalizing on the downwind advantage at times. Defensively, Mallory Clark had a team-high 29 defensive breakups over the weekend, followed by graduate Kali Grayson (12).

"With windy tournaments, we use zone defense a lot as it forces teams to throw some passes that will pop in the wind," Johnson said. "The players in the cup really challenged the person with the disc to take those risky shots, allowing us to get the disc back often."

The tournament afforded the Lady Flames players opportunities to connect with others they met at the High Tide tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C., over spring break, rekindling relationships. They remained intentional in praying with most teams after their games and engaged in spirited conversations and made the most of opportunities to witness to their peers.

The Lady Flames have a week and a half to prepare for the USA Ultimate Virginia Conference Championships, April 11-12 in Glen Allen, Va., where they will have to compete well and place high enough to qualify for the May 1-3 Atlantic Coast Regionals at the same location.

By Amory Doyle/Student Writer