Your ASOR Blue Bi-Monthly Newsletter where we take a look at what’s happening around the Mountain!

 

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The Lady Flames (12-15, 8-6) just wrapped up a two-week road trip down south where they went 1-1. After defeating North Alabama, Liberty traveled to North Florida. They fell into a hole quickly, down 23-10 in the first quarter and couldn’t overcome the deficit.

Liberty only has two games left on the season. They travel to NJIT this Saturday and return home for their final game of the regular season to host UNA on Tuesday.

SOFTBALL

After opening the season 1-4, Dot Richardson’s Flames sought to rebound at the Texas A&M Invitational. They managed a couple wins against Rutgers and one against then ranked no. 19 Texas A&M but dropped a pair of games to McNeese State and the Aggies bringing them to 4-6 on the season.

Now in the midsts of a 10-game home stand, Liberty has won five straight and looks to keep the momentum moving forward as they take on Quinnipiac today at 3:00pm. Tomorrow they host a doubleheader against Rutgers (5:00pm) and Robert Morris (7PM). Their next road trip isn’t until March 8 where they will participate in the UCLA/LBSU Tournament.

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

Women’s Lacrosse started the season hot with a pair of road wins at Lehigh and Winthrop. They then hosted no. 20 Notre Dame where they fell 10-14 against the Irish. Since then, they have won two straight against Elon and Robert Morris, bringing them to 4-1 on the short season.

Senior captain Brianna McCaffrey earned her second ASUN honor of the season as she was named the Player of the Week thanks to her impressive performance against Elon. McCaffrey was Defensive Player of the Week the previous week.

The Lady Flames will host Richmond this Saturday (March 2nd) and ECU on Wednesday (March 6) before going back on the road at Furman (March 16th).

MEN’S GOLF

Two weeks ago, the Flames competed in the Suntrust Gator Invitational where they finished third overall, the best finish in their eight-year history at the tournament. Ervin Chang continues to impress as he finished tied for 7th on the weekend with a 2-under par. Overall, Liberty finished 2-over par, two strokes behind second-place Florida and two behind no. 3 ranked Vanderbilt.

The Flames are now ranked no. 24 on the Golfstat National Rankings thanks to their performance at the Gator Invitational.

They are back in action on March 11-12 where they will head to Myrtle Beach for the General Hacker Championship hosted by Coastal Carolina.

MEN’S TENNIS

After a rough start to the 2019 season, Liberty Men’s Tennis somewhat got their footing against William and Mary and George Washington with back to back wins. Since then, they have dropped a pair of matches to Virginia Tech and Elon. They are now4-7 on the season.

Nicaise Muamba was named the ASUN Player of the Week for the third time this season due in part to his performance over Virginia Tech.

The Flames will now spend most of March away from Lynchburg as they travel from VCU (March 2) to Grand Canyon (March 12), to Arizona (March 14), back to Georgia where they open ASUN play against the Kennesaw State (March 23).

WOMEN’S TENNIS

The Lady Flames are now 3-5 on the season after dropping their game at Arizona this past Saturday.

They travel to Harrisonburg this Saturday where they look to rebound against the JMU Dukes.

TRACK AND FIELD

Liberty captured their first ever ASUN title in any sport this last Wednesday as both the Men’s and the Women’s Indoor Track and Field Teams earned conference championships. The men’s team defeated Kennesaw State by 51 points, ending a seven-straight championship streak for the Owls while the Lady Flames were victorious over Jacksonville by 38 points.

That is now 22 straight conference championships for the men’s team and four straight for the women’s team. Brant Tolsma was named the ASUN’s Head Coach of the Year for both Men’s and Women’s  Indoor Track and Field, making that times he has earned that title for the Flames.

Next up, both teams will travel to Boston University to compete in the 2019 IC4A and ECAC Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships which take place March 1-3.

SWIMMING AND DIVING

The Lady Flames’ Swimming and Diving team continued their dominant season this past week as they earned the 2019 Coastal Collegiate Sports Associate (CCSA) championship. Their 1,859.5 points was a conference record and enough to dethrone Florida Gulf Coast, who was riding a four-year stint as conference champions. This is Liberty’s second-ever conference title and first since 2014.

Other highlights:

  • Head coach Jake Shellenberger was named the CCSA Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year.
  • Diving coach Tori Woods was named the CCSA Diving Coach of the Year.
  • Gianni Pitto was named the Most Outstanding Freshman of the meet.

The Flames continue their season this Friday as they will host the Liberty Last-Chance Meet.

MEN’S BASEBALL

Liberty started the season hot with a win over South Carolina, but they would go on to drop the series 1-2. The Flames bounced back quickly though with a four-game win streak including a sweep over Delaware and defeat of #20 Wake Forest. Ayden Karraker made an amazing catch against the Demon Deacons that garnered national attention including a #1 spot on Sportscenter’s Top 10. After losing to the undefeated Tennessee Vols this past Tuesday, Liberty now sits at 5-3 on the year.

Looking ahead, the Flames will host Maine this weekend (March 1-3) for a 3-game series before Virginia Tech comes to Lynchburg on Tuesday (March 5). Then they travel to Tampa to take on South Florida for another 3-game series (March 8-10).