by Gracie Simpson | Dec 26, 2021 | News Slider, Sports, Student Spotlight
Picking up your whole life in Barcelona, Spain, and moving to the U.S. to get a degree and play tennis isn’t the easiest thing to do. But this is exactly what fifth-year senior Gonzalo Garcia-Nieto did. “Once you get to a certain level where you get out of high school, you have to decide if you want to keep doing that sport and try to go professional or go pursue a college degree,” said Garcia-Nieto. “It is very hard to do both things at the same time [in Spain], so I thought that America was the perfect spot for me,” said Garcia-Nieto. While moving halfway around the world may sound difficult, it was easy compared to what he has dealt with since moving to the United States. A transfer from Tennessee Tech, a back injury that included surgery, and a pandemic later, he is happy to be at Lipscomb. “Whenever we got that extra year of eligibility, I knew I wanted to come back [to Lipscomb to play tennis],” said Garcia-Nieto. Right before COVID hit, the men’s tennis team was on track to win the conference tournament. Beginning the season 9-1, it was the best starting record in program history. “I believe as a team we have unfinished business. My first goal whenever I transferred here from Tennessee Tech was to win the conference tournament at Lipscomb,” said Garcia-Nieto. He now has two seasons at Lipscomb under his belt, and he is heading into his third season. Carlos Salas, a teammate, friend, and fellow native of Barcelona, Spain, praised Garcia-Nieto. “At the beginning, we didn’t get along very well...
by Gracie Simpson | Nov 11, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb women’s soccer team sports an overall record of 15-4-1 and claimed their third ASUN championship in four years on Saturday evening. Despite this, though, they will be serious underdogs as they head to Knoxville this Friday for the opening round of the 2021 NCAA College Cup. Their task is to take on the SEC champions who are ranked #6 in the country, the Tennessee Lady Vols. Head coach Kevin O’Brien is excited for this opportunity, and says he is grateful for another week with this special team. “I told the girls earlier, the pressure is on them [Tennessee],” O’Brien said. “They are ranked 6th in the country at the moment…. we just go in there and have fun. Play in freedom, go in and enjoy it.” He has confidence his squad can pull off an upset. “This is one of those sports where it is very unpredictable,” O’Brien said. “If we are able to take a goal or two and be stingy defensively, we can walk away with a win, which is exciting.” Emanuela Schurch, who now has three rings under her belt at Lipscomb, is more than ready for this game. “I am definitely so excited because we are the underdog and no one expects us to win,” Luzern, Switzerland-born attacking midfielder Emanuela Schurch said. “I feel like we can’t lose anything. If we lose, okay; nothing else was expected. But if we win, it’s huge. We are ready and we won’t back down from a fight.” Schurch said. Senior striker Kammy McGee, who scored the goal in the ASUN Championship that got the Bisons to...
by Gracie Simpson | Oct 28, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
Leah Fortune, associate head coach in her fifth season with the Lady Bisons soccer team, finds herself, happily, in a place she never expected when she was a young soccer star in Brazil. She didn’t just grow up around soccer–she was in it every day. And it was all she knew from a young age. Her parents played, and they opened a soccer complex when she was younger, so she spent most of her time there, learning from and playing with older people. She was born in Brazil, and when she got an opportunity to play for the Brazilian national team at the age of 16, she took it and became the youngest player on the team. She played there for five years until realizing soccer wasn’t going to sustain her for the rest of her life. She knew she needed something more. “To some extent you are wrestling with finding your worth in something,” Fortune said, whose success pushed her deeper into her faith. “You are getting so much affirmation from playing on a national team and playing for World Cups… I decided either Jesus is real and I’m gonna follow Him or I’m not.” She has continued to follow and grow her relationship with Jesus since then, and she has become a leader and a mentor to the girls on the team in their walks of life and in their walks with Jesus. Kate Mason, former Bisons goalkeeper and current goalkeeping coach, sees the way Fortune leads the girls in the right direction and admires it. “Leah’s heart is not only to make the girls better soccer players, but...
by Gracie Simpson | Oct 28, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
Jack Ingold was just a normal freshman, focused fully on his studies, at Lipscomb University last year. But he knew that eventually, he wanted to earn a spot on the basketball team. He had the credentials, but the time wasn’t right. Standing 6 feet 3 inches tall, the Charleston, West Virginia-born guard has known since the fifth grade that Lipscomb is where he wanted to play basketball, and he was a dominant high school player. But he took last year off the hardwood, focusing on school while staying in basketball shape. All the while, he hoped for an opportunity to join the men’s team this year. “I got here as a freshman, and I emailed coach (Lennie) Acuff and told him a little bit about myself and what I wanted out of this,” said Ingold. “I told him if he’d crack the door for me I’d kick it in, and he gave me the opportunity, so I’m here,” said Ingold. Teammate and good friend Tanner Shulman said he’s impressed with Inngold and loves having him around the team. “He moved into the dorms with us (this past summer) and his energy from day one was just awesome,” said Shulman. “Jack is always in the best mood…. It’s just nice to have him around. “He’s doing everything we do, and he’s working his tail off,” Shulman said. “You can already see his body has changed, and he’s gotten to be so much better already.” Acuff said he is impressed with Ingold. “He’s been great, he’s an awesome kid,” Acuff said “He’s a good player. He does everything we...
by Gracie Simpson | Oct 8, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
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...
