Lady Flames Open ASUN Play, Host Lipscomb Twice on Weekend
2/3/2021 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Volleyball Gameday Central Page
Match Notes
Lipscomb at Liberty
Lynchburg, Va. - Liberty Arena
Match Date: Saturday, Feb. 6
Match Time: 1:30 p.m.
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Lipscomb at Liberty
Lynchburg, Va. - Liberty Arena
Match Date: Sunday, Feb. 7
Match Time: 1 p.m.
Live Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Liberty hosts Lipscomb this Saturday and Sunday to open ASUN play. The Lady Flames opened Liberty Arena on Jan. 22 with a 3-0 setback to VCU, while the Bisons (3-1) won their first three matches before falling 3-0 at UAB on Saturday.
Liberty has won its ASUN opener in each of its first two seasons as a conference member, sweeping North Florida in 2018 and downing FGCU, 3-0, last year. Liberty, Kennesaw State and Lipscomb are the only ASUN teams to win their conference openers in both 2018 and 2019.
Lipscomb leads the all-time series over Liberty, 3-1. The Bisons won the first three meetings in the series, including a 3-0 sweep on Oct. 5, 2019 in Nashville. The Lady Flames defeated Lipscomb 3-1 on Oct. 31, 2019 in the Vines Center in the teams' most recent meeting. In that meeting, Liberty's Amelia Johnson and Rajini Fitzmaurice tied for the match high with 13 kills apiece.
2021 Spring Sports Admissions/Tickets
Due to COVID-19 and state regulations, capacity at all Liberty Athletics events is under a limited capacity of 250 patrons or 30 percent capacity, whichever is less based on social distancing protocols, per Virginia Governor Ralph Northam's current Phase 3 guidelines. With those guidelines in place, admission to each event has been adjusted per sport. For more information regarding availability, please click here.
STARTING ROTATION
1. Head Coach Trevor Johnson enters his third season at the helm after being named to the VolleyballMag.com Under 40 Coaching Hotshots list. Under his guidance, Liberty has posted an average of 18 wins per season and has made two ASUN semifinal appearances.
2. After finishing in a tie with Lipscomb for third place in the 2019 ASUN standings with an 11-5 conference record, the Lady Flames appear third in the 2021 Preseason Coaches' Poll. Lipscomb was voted fourth in this year's preseason coaches' poll.
3. Despite its season-opening setback to VCU on Jan. 22, Liberty is 7-1 in non-conference home matches under third-year head coach Trevor Johnson.
4. Freshman Trinity Watts led Liberty with nine kills on Jan. 22 against VCU, becoming the first Liberty freshman since Leah Clayton against Pitt in 2016 to lead Liberty in kills during a season opener.
5. Senior Amaya Williams was voted the 2021 ASUN Fan-Voted Preseason Setter of the Year. A member of the 2017 Big South All-Freshman Team, Williams is the Lady Flames' active leader with 1,303 career assists.
6. Prior to the Jan. 22 match agaist VCU, Kainah Williams had not played in a match since Nov. 16, 2018, a span of 798 days. She hit an efficient .556 with six kills against VCU.
7. Freshman Lydia Burts made her collegiate debut in the third set on Jan. 22 vs. VCU, totaling four blocks in that set alone. She is the first Liberty true freshman to lead the Lady Flames in blocks since Kallie Corbin had three blocks against Portland, Aug. 31, 2006.
8. Liberty hosted VCU on Jan. 22 in the first volleyball match at Liberty Arena. With a 10 a.m. start, it was the earliest NCAA Division I women's volleyball match this season, and likely the earliest in a calendar year that any NCAA Division I women's volleyball match has ever been contested.
