Over the past several years, Liberty has seen tremendous growth in its athletic department. The Flames have grown from an FCS football program to a top 25 FBS team in 2020 while the majority of the 20 Liberty NCAA Division I sports have also experienced tremendous growth.
This past school year was no different as Liberty displayed complete dominance over the ASUN conference across the board. Due to the COVID pandemic, all fall sport seasons were postponed and moved into the spring, so the dominance began with the winter sports.
Liberty won a third straight ASUN championship in men’s basketball, winning the regular season outright with an 11-2 record in conference play and then winning three straight in Jacksonville, Florida to win the ASUN Tournament, as well. The women’s basketball team finished second in the regular season and once again advanced to the conference tournament final before falling to FGCU.
The success continued over the following weeks and months. Liberty’s women’s soccer team won the ASUN championship while its men’s and women’s tennis teams combined to go a perfect 12-0 during the regular season. The men would carry that over and win the conference tournament, as well.
The Flames’ women’s lacrosse team finished in the regular season and advanced to the tournament final before falling. Liberty also dominated on the diamond with the baseball team finishing 19-2 in the regular season while the softball team was 16-2 in conference during the regular season. The softball team would also win the ASUN Tournament while the baseball team advanced to the final of the tournament before falling.
In total, over the 2020-21 athletic season, Liberty teams were a combined 80-23-4 against fellow ASUN teams during the regular season. That’s a 74.77% winning percentage. In conference play!
The Flames were equally as good in ASUN Tournament play, posting a 23-8 record in ASUN conference tournaments this season, that’s a winning percentage of 74.19.
Liberty won ASUN championships in men’s basketball, golf, women’s soccer, men’s indoor track & field, women’s cross country, men’s tennis, softball, women’s outdoor track & field, and men’s outdoor track & field. That’s a total of 9 ASUN conference championships this past athletic season.
The ASUN championships Liberty did not win this season were men’s soccer, men’s cross country, volleyball, women’s indoor track & field, women’s basketball, women’s tennis, baseball, and lacrosse. The Flames also did not win women’s golf and beach volleyball, two sports Liberty does not offer.
Liberty’s 9 ASUN championships this season far surpasses any other team in the conference. The next most was North Florida and Jacksonville who each won three. Kennesaw State had two ASUN championships this year while Lipscomb and FGCU each had one. To put it another way, Liberty won nine ASUN championships this year while the rest of the conference combined to win 10.
Additionally, Liberty’s teams finished second in five other ASUN sports – women’s basketball, baseball, men’s cross country, women’s indoor track & field, and lacrosse. This past school year, the Flames either won the conference championship or finished as runner-up in 14 out of 17 ASUN sports Liberty competes in.
All of this success doesn’t even include football, swimming & diving, and field hockey who each had their own level of success. Football finished as a top 25 team and won the Cure Bowl for the second consecutive season while the swimming & diving team won the CCSA Championship, and field hockey was ranked in the top 10 for most of the season while competing in the Big East.
