This spring is what many in college athletics have referred to as Super Spring. Due to the ongoing COVID pandemic and most sports shut down during the fall and winter, the spring has become home to most college teams’ seasons in 2021. For Liberty, 19 of the school’s 20 Division I programs are in competition this spring, and, if you include football going through spring practice, all of the 20 programs are in action.
We will provide weekly updates on all of Liberty’s NCAA Division I teams in action this spring, with the exception of football, men’s basketball, and baseball, as we cover those teams regularly.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (19-8, 12-4)
The Lady Flames have finished their season, falling to No. 1 seed FGCU in the ASUN Championship Game, 84-62. Liberty defeated No. 7 Bellarmine, 88-59, and No. 3 North Florida, 65-52, to advance to the program’s 22nd conference tournament final in the past 25 years. FGCU ended up with an 11 seed in the Women’s NCAA Tournament, losing in the First Round.
CROSS COUNTRY
After winning the ASUN Women’s Cross Country Championship, the Lady Flames advanced to the program’s first ever appearance at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. Liberty posted a 27th place finish while Adelyn Ackley (66th place) and Calli Doan (85th place) each notched top 100 individual finishes.
#8 FIELD HOCKEY (13-3, 10-2)
The Lady Flames were edged by No. 16 Old Dominion in the Big East championship semifinals, 2-1. Liberty saw its four game winning streak snapped and dreams of making a run on the national stage come to an end. ODU took a 2-0 lead into the halftime break while Liberty responded with a goal early in the fourth quarter. Over the final 12 minutes, the Lady Flames drew one penalty corner and recorded one shot on goal but was unable to score the equalizer. The NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship field was announced and Liberty did not make the cut in the 12-team tournament that includes nine automatic bids and three at large teams.
#14 GOLF
A week after winning its first ever ASUN Men’s Golf Championship, No. 14 Liberty finished in 4th place a week ago at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate, hosted by Ohio State. The Flames were paced by Ervin Chang who finished tied for ninth place with a 2-over par 215. The next time the Flames step on the golf course will be for the 2021 NCAA Regionals (May 17-19). Liberty will learn its NCAA Regional destination during the NCAA Men’s Golf Selection Show that will air on the Golf Channel at 2 pm on May 5.
LACROSSE (9-8, 2-1)
The Lady Flames dropped its regular season finale at No. 8 Florida last Wednesday by a score of 17-2. The Gators marked the sixth ranked opponent and fourth top-10 team Liberty has faced this season. Liberty now turns its attention to the 2021 ASUN Lacrosse Championship which will be played this weekend in Kennesaw, Georgia at Kennesaw State. The Lady Flames earned the No. 2 seed and will face No. 3 seed Kennesaw State on Thursday at 4 pm and will be televised on ESPN+. In their only meeting this season, Liberty defeated Kennesaw State, 17-6, on April 16 in Lynchburg. The winner will advance to Saturday’s final at 1 pm, also on ESPN+, against the winner of No. 1 seed Jacksonville and No. 4 seed Stetson.
WOMEN’S SOCCER (7-6-5, 2-3-3)
For the first time since 2016, the Liberty Lady Flames soccer team advanced to the NCAA College Cup, but the stay was brief as Liberty fell to No. 24 Washington, 3-0, at the Sportsplex in Matthews, North Carolina. Under ASUN Coach of the Year Lang Wedemer, in his fourth season at Liberty, the Lady Flames finish the season at 7-6-5. Liberty falls to 0-7 all-time in the first round of the NCAA College Cup, and has only scored one goal in the seven games, scoring against Wake Forest in 2000.
The loss brings to an end Liberty’s season which was capped by an impressive four game run to the ASUN women’s soccer championship, the first conference championship for the program since 2016 when Liberty won the Big South. The Lady Flames entered the ASUN Tournament having won three games all season, yet Liberty won four matches in 10 days to complete the surprising run to the championship, including wins over the 1 seed in both the North and South divisions.
MEN’S SOCCER (7-3-2, 1-2-1)
The men’s soccer team added a final match at No. 21 Coastal Carolina with hopes of improving the team’s resume for a possible at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament. Seth Clark and Noah Holmes scored goals in the first half while Liberty’s defense limited the Chanticleers to nine shots in the contest as Liberty won, 2-1, at CCU Soccer Complex. The NCAA revealed the field for the Tournament and the Flames were not selected as the season has come to an end.
SOFTBALL (37-12, 16-2)
Liberty catcher Caroline Hudson had 124 at bats this season without a home run. That streak ended last Wednesday evening at Liberty Softball Stadium as she hit home runs on consecutive plate appearances to lift Liberty over No. 18 Virginia Tech 5-3. Hudson tied the game at 3 with a three-run blast in the bottom of the 7th to send the game to extra innings and then hit a two-run walk-off in the 9th.
The Lady Flames then traveled to Georgia and got a little bit of revenge from their only two conference losses this season by sweeping Kennesaw State in a three game series. Liberty swept the doubleheader on Saturday, 5-0 and 1-0, before outlasting the Owls on Sunday, 3-1. With the series win, Liberty has clinched the No. 1 seed in the ASUN North Division for the 2021 ASUN Softball Championship, the Owls will be the No. 2 seed. Liberty has won 16 straight overall and 13 straight in ASUN play. The Lady Flames were scheduled to play at Virginia Tech on Tuesday but that game was canceled due to weather.
SWIMMING & DIVING (3-0, 3-0)
Senior Payton Keiner placed 49th in the 200 backstroke at the 2021 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina. Keiner also finished 54th in the 100 backstroke. Freshman Maddie Freece placed 9th in the three-meter diving on day two of the NCAA Division I Women’s Diving Zone A Championships and Junior Lauren Chennault finished 22nd.
Following a record-setting freshman season, Freece was named CCSA Women’s Diver of the Year. She is the first Liberty student-athlete to be named CCSA Women’s Diver of the year and the first freshman to be voted diver of the year since it was first awarded in 2011.
WOMEN’S TENNIS (18-7, 6-0)
The Lady Flames were edged by FGCU, 4-3, in the semifinals of the 2021 ASUN Women’s Tennis Championship on Friday afternoon at the UNF Tennis Complex. The Lady Flames, the top seed in the ASUN North Division, finish the season with 18 victories which is tied for its second most in a season in program history.
#48 MEN’S TENNIS (20-7, 6-0)
Liberty secured the 2021 ASUN Men’s Tennis Championship title at the UNF Tennis Complex, sweeping FGCU 4-0 for the championship. It’s the first conference championship in program history, while picking up the 20th win of the season, as the Flames continue to add to its school record win total. The Flames now advance to the 2021 NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championship and will face NC State in the first round on Friday at South Carolina.
The No. 48 Flames and No. 25 Wolfpack will square off on Friday morning at 10 am at the Carolina Tennis Center in Columbia, South Carolina. No. 13 overall seed South Carolina will take on CAA champion UNC Wilmington on Friday afternoon. The winner of Friday’s matches will meet in the second round on Saturday at 1 pm.
Unfortunately, late Tuesday it was announced the Flames would have to withdraw from the NCAA Championships due to contact tracing from COVID. ASUN runner-up FGCU will take Liberty’s place in the tournament.
TRACK & FIELD
Liberty captured a number of major Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) University Division Women’s Indoor Track & Field honors late last week. Lance Bingham was named State Coach of the Year, Adelyn Ackley was voted State Track Rookie of the Year, Meredith Engle was tabbed State Field Rookie of the Year, and Anthony Bryan was voted Field Rookie of the Year.
Kyle Mitchell had a record setting victory in the men’s shot put at the UNF Invitational last Thursday. He broke his own program record four times on the day, culminating with his winning effort of 64-3. Diamantae Griggin placed sixth in the men’s 100 final while Samuel Arter collected his first career men’s javelin triumph on Friday at the UNF Invitational.
On Saturday at the Virginia Grand Prix, Ryan Drew broke the ASUN men’s 5K record, Calli Doan shattered her own Liberty women’s steeplechase standard, and Quinten Clay took down his own Liberty freshman record in the men’s long jump.
VOLLEYBALL (5-9, 5-7)
Liberty’s volleyball season came to an end at the KSU Convocation Center as the Lady Flames fell to defending ASUN champion Kennesaw State, 3-0, in the ASUN Quarterfinals. Liberty has been eliminated by Kennesaw State from the ASUN tournament for the second year in a row.
