The Lipscomb Bisons silenced the Belmont Bruins in the Battle of the Boulevard rivalry game Tuesday night in Allen Arena.
Although now in different conferences, the two schools face off every year and keep the rivalry alive.Lipscomb (12-7) defeated Belmont (11-7) in a 3-1 match.
Lipscomb won the first set 25-21, fell in the second set 25-23, dominated set three 25-14 and finished off the Bruins in the fourth set 25-17.
“I am proud of our girls. I thought they did a great job. I was really pleased with what we did,” head coach Brandon Rosenthal said. “I thought our middles did a great job, especially towards the end, of really establishing the block.”
Lipscomb and Belmont battled in the first match head to head before Lipscomb outside hitter Katie Bradley slammed it down the middle to give the Bisons some momentum.
Carlye Nusbaum followed Bradley with a wicked kill down the line to put Lipscomb ahead 17-11 and force Belmont to call a timeout.
Arianna Person for Belmont gave the Bisons a hard time on the outside with her speed and jumping ability as the Bruins began to catch up at 20-15.
Nusbaum slammed it down the middle to finish off the Bruins 25-21 with her seventh kill of the game.
Katie Bradley came ready to play once again in set two starting it off with a kill.
The game bounced back and forth until Belmont began to capitalize on the Bison’s errors and pull ahead 13-8.
After the timeout call, Lipscomb score four consecutive points but still trailed by one.
Just when the Bisons took the lead and gained the momentum, Belmont swings around to gain the lead back and claimed the second set 25-23.
Lipscomb started the third set off with a vengeance. After a comfortable lead the entire set, Maddie Phillips served an ace to keep Lipscomb ahead 11-6.
The Bisons pushed forward and scored two more points forcing Belmont into a panicked timeout.
Kayla Ostrom sneaked one over the net to take set three 25-14.
Lipscomb kept the momentum rolling in the fourth set as they stayed ahead of Belmont by a single point almost the entire match. After many long and hard-fought rallies, the Bisons edged closer to the finish line at 23-17.
Phillips served a huge ace to put Lipscomb ahead 23-17 right before Bradley finished off the set by rolling one over the net to end it 25-17.
“I thought we were pretty dominant in sets three and four. In set one I thought we did a great job.
Lipscomb took the match 3-1 over Belmont. The Lady Bisons will travel to Kennesaw State this Friday.
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics