Liberty’s fall sports are officially underway all over campus, and we will provide weekly updates on all of the teams throughout the semester.
CROSS COUNTRY
For the first time since 2012, Liberty swept the men’s and women’s cross country conference titles in Oxford, Alabama. The Lady Flames enjoyed the largest margin of victory (66 points) in CUSA Cross Country Championship history while the men’s squad pulled out their first conference championship in 11 years.
Led by the duo of Adelyn Fairley (second place) and Allie Zealand (third), Liberty put seven runners inside the top 14 of the women’s 6K finishers. As a result, the Lady Flames notched a dominating victory over defending champion Middle Tennessee and marked Liberty’s first conference crown since 2021 in the ASUN.
The men’s squad halted a run of 10 consecutive runner-up finishes that spanned three conferences, claiming its first tile since the 2013 Big South Championship. Paced by Tristian Merchant (third place), six Flames crossed the line within the top 20 finishers as Liberty edged defending champion Middle Tennessee.
The NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships will be next up for the Flames. The meet, which will determine the team and individual qualifiers to the 2024 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, is set for Nov. 15 at Winthrop Farm in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
FIELD HOCKEY (10-8, 4-3 Big East)
A disappointing season came to an end over the weekend in the Big East Tournament as the Lady Flames, the 4-seed, fell to 1-seed UConn, 2-1 on Friday.
WOMEN’S SOCCER (15-2-4, 6-1-2 CUSA)
Ivy Garner posted a second half goal to push the 2-seed Liberty past No. 3 New Mexico State, 1-0, on Friday to advance to the CUSA Women’s Soccer Championship title game.
The championship run came to an end on Sunday at No. 1 FIU, 1-0. The Panthers scored early in the second half off a penalty kick. The Lady Flames suffered both of their losses this season to FIU and did not receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
MEN’S SOCCER (7-7-3, 5-3-2 OVC)
Liberty’s season came to an end in the OVC quarterfinals on Sunday, falling to 5-seed Incarnate Word, 2-0. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half with a pair of goals and then held off Liberty for the victory.
VOLLEYBALL (13-15, 7-9 CUSA)
The Lady Flames were swept by UTEP at Liberty Arena over the weekend. Liberty lost in four sets on Friday evening and then in three sets on Saturday.
The volleyball regular season concludes this weekend as Liberty makes the trip to Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Flames take on Western Kentucky on Thursday at 7 pm and again on Friday at 7 pm.
