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
Liberty seniors Adelyn Fairley and Nicholas Kiprotich swept the individual titles during the Flames’ season opening Liberty Challenge at the Liberty Cross Country Course. Freshman Allie Zealand finished second in the women’s race. In total, the lady Flames grabbed seven of the top nine spots in the unscored competition against Lynchburg, the No. 5 ranked squad in NCAA Division III.
On the men’s side, Kiprotich, Tristian Merchant, Kyle Harkabus, and Nathan Moore made it a 1-2-3-4 Flames showing against Lynchburg, also ranked No. 5 in the D3 ranks on the men’s side.
Liberty will return to action on Sept. 20 in the Adidas XC Challenge in Cary, North Carolina.
#12 FIELD HOCKEY (4-1, 0-0 Big East)
The Lady Flames rolled past William & Mary, 5-0, on Friday afternoon at the Liberty Field Hockey Field. Martu Cian, Ava Murphy, Reagan Underwood, Lou Combrinck, and Josefina Tomasi all scored goals.
On Sunday, Liberty got a goal from Combrinck in the fourth period, propelling the Flames to a 1-0 victory over No. 4 Duke, the highest home ranked win in program history.
Liberty will open Big East play this weekend, playing at Old Dominion on Friday at 3 p.m. The Lady Flames will return home for a Sunday match against North Carolina at noon.
#24 WOMEN’S SOCCER (8-0-2, 0-0 CUSA)
Liberty remains unbeaten, first picking up a win on Thursday at George Mason, 6-0. The Lady Flames exploded out of the game, tallying four goals in the first 11 minutes to coast to the shutout victory. On Sunday, Liberty and UNC Greensboro played to a 0-0 draw as the Lady Flames end non-conference play unbeaten.
Conference USA play begins this week as Liberty plays at Jacksonville State on Thursday night at 8 p.m.
MEN’S SOCCER (2-2-1, 0-0 OVC)
Liberty fell at James Madison, 2-0, on Saturday, and their contest against Presbyterian on Wednesday was canceled due to weather.
Only one match this week for the Flames, playing at Clemson on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL (4-5, 0-0 CUSA)
Liberty opened its self hosted Liberty Tourney with a 3-0 sweep of ETSU on Friday afternoon in the home opener. Later on Friday, the Lady Flames took visiting Virginia to five sets before falling 3-2. On Sunday, to conclude the weekend, Liberty lost in three sets to West Virginia.
The Lady Flames head to Athens, Ohio this weekend for the Ohio University Tournament. Liberty is scheduled to take on Oakland Friday at 10:30 a.m. and then the host Ohio Friday evening at 6:30. Liberty will conclude the trip to Ohio on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. against Eastern Kentucky.
