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
Tristian Merchant’s first appearance in a Liberty cross country uniform was a memorable one as he raced to an individual victory in the men’s 8K on Friday at the Eye Opener at Milliken Research Park. That performance helped lead the Flames to a men’s team title. He was one of 10 Flames to cross the finish line inside the top 18 as Liberty posted a 15-point margin of victory over Furman atop the 18-team men’s field.
Meanwhile, Adelyn Fairley took 11th in the women’s 5K, pacing the Lady Flames to a third-place team showing. The Lady Flames edged South Carolina by one point for third place out of 17 women’s squads. Liberty trailed only Furman and Clemson in the final standings.
The Lady Flames will return to action on Sept. 23 at the Virginia Invitational in Charlottesville at Panorama Farms, site of the 2023 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships.
FIELD HOCKEY (4-0)
No. 9 Liberty was able to stay unbeaten on Sunday, defeating American 1-0, after winning in a shootout. Kyleigh Faust and Milagros Arteta scored in the shootout for the Lady Flames while senior goalkeeper Azul Iritxity Irigoyen stopped four of the Eagles’ five attempts in the shootout to seal the victory.
Liberty will host No. 13 Harvard on Friday before playing at Duke on Sunday.
WOMEN’S SOCCER (6-0)
Liberty’s women’s soccer team defeated Longwood, 2-1, on Thursday night to improve to 5-0 on the season. The victory extends the Lady Flames’ unbeaten streak to 18 games (15-0-3), the best current streak among all NCAA Division I programs in the country.
On Sunday afternoon in Lynchburg, the Lady Flames picked up a huge 3-1 win over West Virginia. The Mountaineers have made 22 of the past 23 NCAA Tournaments and are traditionally one of the top programs in the Big 12. After falling behind 1-0, Liberty scored 3 goals in the final 18 minutes to pick up the win.
The women will hit the road this week to play at Queens on Thursday and at Marshall on Sunday.
MEN’S SOCCER (3-1)
The first loss for any sport this academic year came on Friday night when the men’s soccer team lost at UMBC. The Retrievers scored two goals midway through the second half to open a tightly contested game before falling 3-0. The Flames bounced back with a 2-1 win over Navy on Sunday thanks to goals from Luke Eberle and Bryce Swinehart.
Liberty is off until Tuesday, Sept. 12 when the Flames play host to Longwood.
VOLLEYBALL (6-0)
What a strong start for Liberty volleyball. The Lady Flames have raced out to a 6-0 record and have won two regular season invitationals during the same year, winning a tournament at Liberty and the Black Knights Invitational this past weekend.
The Lady Flames defeated High Point, Army, and Yale over the weekend. The match against the Panthers went to five sets, and, after sweeping Army, Liberty dropped the first set to Yale before winning three straight sets to claim a 3-1 victory.
Liberty now travels to Hawaii for the first time in program history to compete in the Outrigger Volleyball Challenge beginning Friday. The Lady Flames will face Hawaii, UCLA, and Pepperdine.
