The Lipscomb volleyball team beat the Jacksonville Dolphins 3-1 Saturday in their second match of three in the conference-opening ASUN Crossover Weekend held at Allen Arena.
After a disappointing 3-0 loss against the FGCU Eagles on Friday, the Bisons looked to rebound as they faced the Dolphins, who also lost their opener 3-0. The Bisons did just that, winning a 3-1 match to take their first ASUN conference win of the campaign.
In the first set, the first point was scored by Lipscomb by way of a block assist by both sophomore setter Delaney Dilfer and sophomore middle blocker Meg Mersman. Jacksonville fought back early and locked the set at 3-3. A kill by senior hitter Logan Gish and a service ace by graduate transfer and defensive specialist Alex Spencer put the Bisons up 5-3. Building off a Jacksonville service error, the Bisons put together a 6 point run led by server Gish putting them up 12-6. The Dolphins fought back with a couple of kills and a Bisons attack error to put the set within 3. The Bisons went on an 8 point tear with 2 kills by Mersman, 1 by senior outside hitter Kam Bacus, and a service ace by sophomore setter Ashleigh Albert built to a 22-10 set score. Jacksonville fought back but it was too little, too late as they put together a 4 point run with a service ace by Niccola Bozzini. The Bisons were still on the attack with a 23-15 lead; kills by Mersman and freshman Addi Pelham, both assisted by Delaney Dilfer, closed the set at 25-15.
The Bisons entered the second set up 1 in the match and came out of the gate swinging. The Bisons put up a 6-4 run in the first 10 points led by Bacus on kills and Gish as well as Mersman on blocks. The Bisons fired back after a Jacksonville kill with 4 points of their own. Gish was a key part of this 4 point run, posting 2 kills and a service ace. Jacksonville wanted to come back from the 5 point deficit and were able to put a few points on the board but only closed the gap by 1 going 6-5 in the next 11 points. A deadlock battle ensued as the Bisons went 9-5 over the next 14 points to close the set with great work put in by all team members, including a service ace by Dilfer, 3 kills by Bacus, and 2 kills by graduate transfer Kat Lowry.
In the third set, the Dolphins proved they were not going to go away quietly as they put together a 7-3 run through the first 10 points with 4 Bisons errors. The Bisons were unable to counter anything the Dolphins brought to the floor, falling behind 12-4 with 2 service aces and 4 kills in the first 16 points. With the Bisons down 8 points, sophomore libero Delaney Smith brought a bit of fire back into the team with 2 back to back service aces forcing a Jacksonville time out. With the Bisons closing the gap to only 4 points, there looked to be a chance for the 3-0 sweep on sets with a 8-12 scoreline in the third. The Dolphins only managed to put one on the board before Lipscomb went on an 8-3 tear with 6 different members of the team getting involved. The Bisons had tied it up at 16-16. With a chance to sweep the match Jacksonville again brought out another 7-3 run to put the Bisons 4 back with little time left in the set. The Bisons fell behind 19-23. A Jacksonville service error and a block assist by Dilfer and Lowry brought the Bisons within 2 getting to 21-23. After a Lipscomb error, Jacksonville earned a 24-21 lead and a chance to close the set out. Zoe LaBreche capitalized with a kill to finish the set at 25-21.
Lipscomb came back to the fourth set hungry for a win and it showed. Mersman came out of the gates with 2 kills and pulled a 0-3 lead over the Dolphins. The Dolphins again proved they were not going to hand it to the Bisons, posting 3 kills and building off of a Bisons error they had a 4-3 lead. Lipscomb learned from the last set, not allowing themselves to ever fall out of contention. Led by quality serves from Spencer, Lipscomb posted 4 points of their own, taking a 7-4 lead early in the set. With both teams fighting back and responding to the other, the game was deadlocked at 12-12 after a kill by Bacus. Albert put a service ace on the stat line to put the Bisons up 1 followed by a block assist by Bacus and Mersman. The teams fought hard to stay in convention the whole set never letting the other build on momentum from any point pushing the set to 20-20. The Bisons were not going to let this go the same way as the third set. A kill from Mersman set up a 5-1 run with Dilfer lining up two service aces and Mersman posting her 16th kill of the night. A Jacksonville team error off an Alex Spencer serve gave Lipscomb the fourth and final set.
Many players posted strong stat lines in the book, such as Dilfer, who collected 34 assists and 3 service aces, and Gish, who provided 9 kills, 14 digs, and 4 service aces.
The players were quick to point to the collective of the team as the source of victory. “I could not do it without Delaney Dilfer,” said Mersman when asked about her 16 kills and .571% kill percentage.
“I did not perform the best in the last matches. Credit to Jacksonville’s defense. [It] feels great to get our first conference win and not too bad stats to go along with it.”
Head coach Brandon Rosenthal had good things to say when asked about how it felt to get the first conference win. “It feels great,” said Rosenthal. “A lot of what we prepared for was the ASUN [conference slate]. I told [the team], ‘you have to win the first one before you win the championship.’”
Lipscomb volleyball is back in action at 6 pm on Sunday in Allen Arena, facing off against Liberty. With the win, Lipscomb goes to 4-8 on the season and 1-1 in the conference.
Photo courtesy of CJ Arndt