Tuesday, April 28
Jacksonville, Fla.
6:00 PM ET
Liberty University
vs
No. 6 seed Kennesaw State
No. 3 Liberty Opens ASUN Championship Against No. 6 Kennesaw State
4/27/2026 2:00:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
LYNCHBURG, Va. – No. 3 seed Liberty (7-10, 5-3 ASUN) will open the 2026 Atlantic Sun Women's Lacrosse Championship in the first round against No. 6 seed Kennesaw State (8-9, 3-5 ASUN). The contest is set for a 6 p.m. start at Rock Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Liberty enters the event as the reigning champions, taking the title as the tournament host with wins over Lindenwood and Coastal Carolina. The last program to repeat was Jacksonville, which won both championships at home in 2022 and 2023.
The winner of Tuesday's contest will take on tournament host, No. 2 seed Jacksonville, in the semifinal on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET.
Liberty topped Kennesaw State 17-4 at home on April 11. Katie Colavito netted five goals, while Sophia Nesci (3g, 2a) and Ava Rajala (3g, 1a) added hat tricks.
The ASUN Women's Lacrosse Championship expanded to a six-team bracket this season with the inclusion of conference newcomers Austin Peay and Delaware. Since Liberty joined the league in 2019, the bracket held six teams once in 2023, when No. 1 seed Liberty earned a bye as the Regular Season Champion.
All-Conference All-Stars
Lady Flames News & Notes
Top of the Charts
Liberty enters the event as the reigning champions, taking the title as the tournament host with wins over Lindenwood and Coastal Carolina. The last program to repeat was Jacksonville, which won both championships at home in 2022 and 2023.
The winner of Tuesday's contest will take on tournament host, No. 2 seed Jacksonville, in the semifinal on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET.
Liberty topped Kennesaw State 17-4 at home on April 11. Katie Colavito netted five goals, while Sophia Nesci (3g, 2a) and Ava Rajala (3g, 1a) added hat tricks.
The ASUN Women's Lacrosse Championship expanded to a six-team bracket this season with the inclusion of conference newcomers Austin Peay and Delaware. Since Liberty joined the league in 2019, the bracket held six teams once in 2023, when No. 1 seed Liberty earned a bye as the Regular Season Champion.
All-Conference All-Stars
- Liberty featured seven athletes in the 2026 ASUN Postseason Awards, announced on Monday morning.
- Sophia Nesci headlined the group as the unanimous Freshman of the Year.
- Katie Colavito and Madeliene Klunder were named to the All-ASUN first team.
- Jenna Burrow and Ava Rajala were chosen to the All-ASUN second team
- Nicole Arriola joined Nesci on the All-Freshman team.
- Six Lady Flames, Colavito, Karlie Hickson, Klunder, Rachel Hines, Kendall Nye and Kate Troutman were named to the 2026 Academic All-ASUN team.
Lady Flames News & Notes
- Ava Rajala leads the team with 58 points and 33 assists, along with 25 goals.
- Colavito helps guide both Liberty's offensive and defensive attack, pacing the team with 41 goals and 35 caused turnovers this season. Katie Colavito is averaging 4.5 goals per game in her career against Kennesaw State, scoring at least five goals in her last three contests against the Owls.
- Freshman Sophia Nesci ranks second on the team with 36 goals, 20 assists and 56 points. She has scored in all but one game this season, including a streak of six straight contests tallying multiple goals (Feb. 28-March 26).
- Rachel Hines (7-10) ranks No. 12 nationally with 151 saves this season and No. 20 in the country with 8.88 saves per game. She carries season-long totals of an 11.81 goals-against average and a .434 save percentage.
- Liberty leads the country as a team in both caused turnovers per game (16.69) and ground balls per game (20.47).
- Madeleine Klunder leads the team with 38 ground balls.
- Olivia Young (31g, 14a) has scored a goal in 11 consecutive contests.
Top of the Charts
- Rajala is currently tied for second in most assists in a single season (33) in program history with Kayla Foster (2017) and Morgan Becker (2015). She needs six assists to pass Kayle Foster (38, 2018) for the top spot.
- With 73 career assists, Rajala currently ranks third for most assists in program history. She needs six assists to pass Carly White (77, 2017-21) for second. The top spot is held by Kayla Foster (2016-19) with 129 total assists.
- Colavito currently ranks sixth all-time in program history with 125 goals. She could soon pass Morgan Becker (127, 2012-15), Nina Dunay (128, 2011-15) and Brianna McCaffrey (128, 2016-19). The top spots are held by Mackenzie Lehman (170, 2021-25) and Cami Merkel (141, 2022-25).
- With 41 goals, Colavito is approaching the top 5 for most goals in a single season in program history. She needs five goals to pass Cami Merkel (45, 2023).
- Colavito (118) and Klunder (113) currently rank second and third in program history in career caused turnovers. Brianna McCaffrey (2016-19) owns the program record with 147 caused turnovers.
- Klunder currently ranks No. 3 in program history with 158 career ground balls. She needs seven to pass Brianna McCaffrey (2016-19) for second all-time with 164.
- Nesci is currently second in Liberty program history in scoring 56 points and 36 goals. She is chasing Katy Pridemore's freshman scoring (points) record, which she set in 2015 (52g, 68p, 3.4 ppg). She currently leads all Liberty freshmen with 20 assists.
- Ava Menna is currently second in program history with 263 draw controls. She needs 26 draws to pass the current leader and assistant coach, Lizzy Ferguson (288).
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