by Gracie Simpson | Sep 30, 2021 | News Slider, Sports, Student Spotlight
Maddie Cook, one of the new additions to the women’s basketball team, transferred in this year from Lipscomb’s biggest rival school: Belmont, where she spent her last four seasons. In her four years at Belmont, Cook led the bench in points and rebounds a couple of times and had a stellar showing in the OVC championship game against SEMO, with 12 points and three rebounds. Although she had some standout games and loved her teammates, she said Belmont never fulfilled what she was looking for in her college basketball career. “I committed to a coach that wasn’t the coach I ever played for at Belmont,” said Cook. “I knew that when I transferred… someone would see me fitting into their style of play.” Along with wanting to stay close to her hometown of Murfreesboro, she said it was a surprise to discover she loved Lipscomb and realized it was the perfect fit. “I actually started to really get to know about Lipscomb and hear from [head coach] Lauren Sumski. I was actually pretty shocked because it was more than I expected,” said Cook. “The coaching staff is very young and energetic, and they are involved but not weirdly involved. Just very caring and personable.” One of Cook’s new teammates, sophomore shooting guard Jalyn Holcomb, said she didn’t know how to feel when she heard Cook was transferring in from Belmont, but she discovered that Cook fit right in. “As soon as practices started and everything, she was never timid,” said Holcomb, a Murfreesboro, Tennessee native. “I think she brought a lot of experience from her being a grad student…...
by Gracie Simpson | Sep 11, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
Sophomore golf standout Jack Morris — a Franklin native who chose to stay close to home for his college career — says he is looking to improve his game with the help of some competition from some new faces on the team. “We’ve got four new guys, two freshmen and then two transfers,” Morris said. “One of the transfers is from Purdue, one of the transfers was D2, All-American, we’ve got a much more competitive team,” adding that competition pushes him to work on his own skills every day. Morris is something of a hometown boy, choosing to be a Bison over other opportunities for a variety of reasons. “I chose Lipscomb, partially because the weather is a lot warmer…great business school…and we’ve got a great coaching staff along with a great program,” said the sophomore, who decided to accept Lipscomb’s offer in 2019. Family ties also played a role, since both of his parents are Lipscomb graduates. In high school, he led Franklin High School to a state championship while also earning the title Williamson County Golfer of the Year. He was named the 2019 Junior Cup MVP and the 2020 Tennessee Junior Amateur Champion. Such honors set him apart from those teeing up with him. College has been different, but he’s embracing it. “One of the things was playing for a team, not just individually,” he said. “This was kind of one of the things I had to adjust to, but I’m looking forward to this year and making improvements and getting better.” The team will head to Birmingham on Sept. 27 for the UAB Invitational. Photo...
by Gracie Simpson | Sep 9, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
With top-ranked senior Kate Popova utilizing her extra year of eligibility, a few new faces, and a renewed energy, Lipscomb’s women’s tennis team is set to grind out a tough fall season. “We have two new girls and we have only just gotten started, so they are still getting acclimated with everything.” said senior Maddox Bandy, who hopes the team is able to improve on last spring’s 10-9 record. “A big thing on our team is energy, so [newcomers] are having to adjust going from junior tennis to college tennis and learning how big of an impact energy can have on our practices and on each other,” she said. The team’s number one player, Popova decided to come back for her COVID year, meaning she took advantage of an NCAA rule that allowed athletes hurt by virus cancellations to come back for an extra season. “I want it to be fun,” said Popova of her goals for the season. “I feel like the last two years with COVID …we were restricted to do a lot of stuff.” “I know it’s not gonna be full blown normal, but I want it to be something like it was my freshman and sophomore year.” said Popova. Tennis is a spring sport and its conference and national championships are held in April, but the season officially starts in the fall. This year, the team will only play four tournaments before Christmas, but despite the lesser workload, the fall becomes more of a grind than the spring season does, says head coach Jamie Aid. “[Coach Aid] has the mentality that fall should be harder,”...
