Meg Mersman, a sophomore volleyball standout, dominated in her freshman season, starting in all 20 matches for Lipscomb during the year.
Greenback, Tennessee-born Mersman finished first in the ASUN and on the team with 71 total blocks, while also having a total of 171 kills on the season, including her career best 14 against North Florida.
Going forward with this season and the rest of her career, she said she wants to continue to grow and be that threat to other teams.
“I don’t want to just do enough.” Mersman said. “I want to stand out like I did last year…I want other people to know my name in the conference and I want the other middles from other teams to be afraid to be matched up against me.”
“The reputation I built last year as a freshman is so important as I mature in age, and also maturing in what I do on the court,” Mersman said.
Head coach Brandon Rosenthal scored big when Meg committed to Lipscomb after decommitting from the University of Tennessee and turning down other schools much bigger than Lipscomb.
“The thing that impressed me was just her ability to change a game from a presence standpoint,” Rosenthal said.
“Meg comes in with a ton of swagger, which in a lot of places I think maybe would try to hamper that, and I think we don’t. We try to encourage that.”
She’s already a leader on the floor, but she’s working on herself off the floor to try and be better for the team.
“There’s so many people (on this team), myself included, that need to do their own individual growing in their leadership abilities,” said Mersman. “I’m trying to do what I can in that role in order to help bring out the right leader.”
Rosenthal is looking forward to her continual growth throughout the rest of this season and in years to come.
“Her swagger level will continue to grow because I think things within the team are really starting to fall in place,” said Rosenthal. “As we become more and more comfortable…Meg’s ability to impact the game will continue to grow.”
The women’s volleyball team has their next test 6 PM Friday in Allen Arena against Bellarmine University as they continue ASUN Conference play.