by Erika Plunkett | Mar 12, 2021 | News, News Slider, Sports
Coming into Thursday night, Lipscomb was undefeated in conference play this season. They remain undefeated after 110 minutes of hard-fought soccer that ended in a 0-0 draw against the Liberty Flames. Lipscomb leads their side of the conference in goals scored at 10 and features an all-star roster, including reigning ASUN player of the week sophomore midfielder Kelli Beiler, but on the other side of the pitch, Liberty leads the conference in goals allowed. Early in the game, it seemed that Liberty’s defense had met their match as several promising crosses entered the box from the Lipscomb attack. But when faced with the 50-50 balls within their own 18 Liberty found a way to win these matchups and clear the ball. However, a handball in the first half almost changed the dynamic of the game, as Lipscomb received a set-piece just outside the box that was beautifully placed by sophomore striker Molly Grant into the upper right corner of the net, but was even more skillfully saved by sophomore goalkeeper Melody Jayroe. Jayroe proved to be a thorn in the Bisons’ sides as she maintained a clean slate despite several promising attempts from Lipscomb. In the other net, freshman goalkeeper CJ Graham got her first conference start for the Bisons and did so masterfully, even while battling the 20 mph gusts. With the impeccable goalie prowess, the match remained scoreless forcing two golden goal overtime periods, where the play of both goalies continued to impress despite the physical and aggressive play of both offenses. With the tie, Lipscomb moves to 2-0-1 and Liberty moves to 2-1-1, giving Lipscomb the...
by Erika Plunkett | Mar 11, 2021 | News, News Slider, Sports
The fourth-seeded Lady Bisons open conference tournament play Thursday afternoon in Kennesaw, Georgia against the fifth-seeded Stetson Hatters. In head coach Lauren Sumski’s first season, Lipscomb is coming off of one of their best seasons in recent memory, going undefeated at home for the first time in the program’s Division-I era. The Bisons enter the tournament with their highest seeding since the 2017-2018 campaign when they fell in the semifinals to the FGCU Eagles. A huge reason for the Bisons’ success is senior ASUN second-team senior forward Taylor Clark, who is averaging 12.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game for Lipscomb. Clark has been a leader on and off the court, and her versatility makes her an integral part of everything the Bisons do. Joining Clark as an ASUN honoree is freshman Jordan Peete, who has already made a huge impact with Lipscomb in her first season, averaging 9.3 points per game. For Lipscomb to advance, they will need to rely on Clark and Peete, as well as sophomore stalwarts Casey Collier and Jalyn Holcomb. Thursday afternoon Lipscomb will “host” the Stetson Lady Hatters in the one-site tournament location at Kennesaw State University. This new format was introduced to minimize travel in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 but will allow teams to have more consistency in between matchups. The Lady Bisons are going to have quite a challenge hoping to clinch the automatic NCAA tournament bid. While Lipscomb swept Stetson in the regular season, the Hatters will be looking to bounce back in this third matchup of the season and keep their perfect record against the Bisons...
by Erika Plunkett | Mar 11, 2021 | News, News Slider, Sports
Capping off the end of their six-game homestand the Lady Bisons hosted their rival Belmont Bruins Wednesday afternoon in a midweek matchup but fell 5-1. Junior pitcher Katie Turner got her first start of the season and got off to a rocky start, allowing three hits off of the Bruins’ top three batters. “Belmont came out aggressive and attacked us,” Lipscomb coach Kristin Ryman said in a statement released by Lipscomb Athletics. “We were never able to get back in it.” Turner bounced back and struck out two of the next three batters as well as forcing a fly out to end the inning. Lipscomb matched Belmont in hits for the afternoon but was only able to capitalize on one chance in the third inning where a ground out allowed junior infielder Amy Vetula to score. The Bisons would allow two more runs in the fifth and sixth inning, bringing the total to five for the Bruins. “We are still trying to figure out who we are,” Ryman said. “We are still trying to learn to play with consistency. We had chances. We didn’t make adjustments and it wasn’t for lack of trying. We just didn’t succeed. We struggled with it.” Sophomore outfielder Presley Leebrick led the way for the Bisons with two hits in the loss including her fifth double on the season. With the loss, the Bisons fall to 9-8 on the season. Lipscomb travels to Kennesaw State to open ASUN conference play Saturday afternoon. Continue to follow Lumination Network for Lipscomb Athletics coverage. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...
by Erika Plunkett | Mar 8, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb Women’s Tennis had a split weekend hosting the Memphis Tigers on Friday and the Illinois State Redbirds on Sunday at the Huston-Marsh-Griffin Tennis Center and traveling to Birmingham, Alabam to take on the UAB Blazers on Saturday. Overall, the Lady Bisons went 1-2 dropping their Friday and Saturday matchups, 1-6 and 2-4 respectively. Lipscomb bounced back with a 4-3 victory on Sunday. On Friday, junior Eleanor Chapman got the only victory for the Bisons coming back from behind after falling in her first set. Sunday, the Bisons once again fell behind early dropping the early doubles matches falling behind the Redhawks 0-2. But strong performances in the singles matchups from sophomore Emma Zakordoniec, junior Liza Diachenko, freshman Sasha Dobranos, and Chapman sealed the match for the Bisons. Lipscomb moves to 4-5 on the season and 4-3 at home. The Bisons’ next matchup will be Thursday at noon when the Bisons host Radford. Continue to follow Lumination Network for Lipscomb Bisons coverage. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...
by Erika Plunkett | Mar 8, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
On Sunday afternoon Lipscomb women’s soccer hosted the Alabama Crimson Tide for a non-conference matchup. After a quiet 90 minutes of regulation, the Tide prevailed with a golden goal victory, 1-0, in the 93rd minute. Combined in regulation Lipscomb and Alabama combined for a total of four shots on goal with the Bisons holding the advantage 3-1. Junior midfielder Kelli Beiler, who has been off to a hot start for the Bisons since transferring in from Penn State, had the Bisons’ best opportunity off of a corner kick by junior midfielder Emily Patti, but a masterful save by junior goalkeeper McKinley Crone kept the game scoreless. Alabama started off overtime with two quick shots on goal. Lipscomb senior goalkeeper Melissa Gray picked up her second save of the afternoon against freshman midfielder Kate Henderson, but less than two minutes later sophomore midfielder Reyna Reyes scored off of an assist from sophomore defender Bella Scaturro. The Lady Bisons fall to 3-2 on the season and are set to host Liberty and put their perfect conference record on the line Thursday night at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex. Continue to follow Lumination Network for coverage of all Lipscomb athletics and visit the Lipscomb Bisons YouTube page for soccer live streams. Photos by Riley...
