Florida Gulf Coast was out for blood this year after losing to the Lady Bisons in both meetings last year.
The Lady Bisons hoped to continue their winning streak after their win last night against Stetson, but FGCU defeated the Lady Bisons in three quick sets Saturday night.
“Florida Gulf did a nice job of coming out and executing their game plan, and, unfortunately, that leaves us sitting here pondering on a lot,” head coach Brandon Rosenthal said.
Kayla Ostrom, Lauren Anderson, Taylor Racich, Brittany Thomas, Carlyle Nusbaum, Maddie Phillips and Katie Bradley started the match in Allen Arena and fell behind FGCU early on in the first set.
Lipscomb called a timeout in set one with the score 10-4 to try to switch the momentum. Nevertheless, the Lady Bisons fell behind early on and never came back. FGCU extended the lead to 16-8, and then dominated the net to move to 21-11, leaving the Lady Bisons in the dust.
Lipscomb eventually fell to the Eagles 25-14.
“We hadn’t been beat like this all year, and it’s alarming,” Rosenthal stated.
The second set started off much better for the Lady Bisons as they quickly jumped ahead to 7-3.
FGCU called a timeout to try to freeze Lipscomb but to no avail. The Lady Bisons pushed ahead, keeping their early lead.
FGCU battled at the net until tying up the game 11-11. Lipscomb tried to gain the lead back but fell behind 14-11.
The Eagles took advantage of this momentum, winning set two 25-18.
Despite the Lady Bisons offense’s slow start, Nusbaum kept her double figure kill streak in place, earning 10 kills this match and helping Lipscomb gain the lead 12-11 in the third set.
However, the Lady Bisons fell behind yet again 15-12. They called a timeout to freeze the match, but FGCU continued to dominate 18-13.
The Eagles’ momentum was unstoppable as they took the final set 25-18, sweeping the Lady Bisons on their own court.
“This is a wake up call, and I hope to have a wake up call,” Rosenthal said. “We have to go back and get back to work on Monday.”
Overall, Lipscomb is 10-6 and 3-2 in conference play.
The Lady Bisons travel to No. 25 ranked Western Kentucky on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics