Blane, Mangum, Phillips Named to CSC Academic All-District Team®

Official Release

Liberty redshirt sophomore middle blocker Julia Mangum, sophomore middle blocker Madison Blane and sophomore outside hitter Kate Phillips have all been named to the 2022 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Volleyball Team®, as announced today by the College Sports Communicators (CSC, formerly CoSIDA).

To earn inclusion on the team, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve, have played in at least 50% of their team’s games and have at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average. In addition, a student-athlete must have completed one full calendar year at their current institution.

As a result of their inclusion on the academic all-district team, they will now appear on the ballot for the 2022 College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Volleyball Team®. The first-, second- and third-team Academic All-America honorees will be announced on Dec. 21.

Liberty has now received 11 CSC Academic All-District® honors in program history, with the last being in fall of 2021 when Aspen Thompson was voted to the team.

Blane (International Relations major) and Phillips (Business Administration) both hold 4.0 GPA’s. Meanwhile, Mangum carries a 3.82 GPA as an exercise science major.

A native of Montgomery, Texas, Blane was named to the ASUN All-Conference third team during a breakthrough season. She leads the ASUN in blocks per set (1.24) and ranks fourth overall in hitting percentage (.334). Blane paced the conference in both hitting percentage (.372) and blocks per set (1.43) during conference play. She has turned in five double-digit kill matches, including a career-high 15 in the ASUN quarterfinal against Stetson. She has posted five or more blocks in a match 11 times this season, with a career-high and Liberty Arena-record 12 blocks in a four-set match against Austin Peay.

Hailing from Encinitas, Calif., Phillips has been a standout in both the backcourt and at the net this season. Overall, she is ranked second on the team with 336 kills at a .218 pace. She is also second on the team with 11 double-doubles and has posted 18 double-digit kill matches. Phillips has hit .500 twice this season (18-4-28 vs. Queens, Sept. 23; 14-1-26 at Bellarmine, Oct. 7). She scored a career-high 19 kills at North Alabama on Nov. 4, adding 17 digs. One of the best defensive outside hitters in the ASUN, Phillips has posted 16 double-digit dig matches. She scored 12 kills and added a career-high 21 digs in a four-set win over Winthrop, Sep. 2.

Mangum, a Jacksonville, Fla., native, serves as a team captain for the ASUN regular-season champion Lady Flames. She began her college career during the spring of 2020 and is on pace to graduate next year. Mangum has recovered fully from an injury suffered during her freshman year in the spring of 2021 that kept her out all the way until the start of this season. Playing for the first time in 532 days, Mangum started this year’s season opener. She averages 1.54 kills (.234) and 0.79 blocks. The redshirt sophomore scored 10 kills in Liberty’s ASUN quarterfinal win over Stetson.

Liberty (23-8) won the ASUN regular season championship with a 14-2 conference record and advanced to the ASUN final with five-set wins over Stetson and Lipscomb before falling to FGCU in the final. The Lady Flames have accepted an invitation to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC), with seedings and matchups announced on Sunday night. This will be Liberty’s second NIVC appearance, as the Lady Flames made the NIVC Elite Eight in 2019.