by Joe Sanderson | Nov 19, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
With a 3-0 sweep of USC Upstate and 3-1 victory over Kennesaw State University last weekend, the lady Bisons clinched the regular season championship and with it secured the No. 1 seed heading into the Atlantic Sun Tournament. Head coach Brandon Rosenthal knew that something was different with the team this year with heir attitude towards the game and outlook on winning. “Going to Kansas and beating Kansas, going to Missouri and beating Missouri and Illinois State,” Rosenthal said, “It was just one of those years where everybody believed and it was special.” Injuries and illness plagued the team towards the start of the season, but they found a way to fight back and end conference play 13-1. Rosenthal said that it’s not necessarily about the talent but the character. Over a quarter of the team are seniors this year and their leadership was apparent in each and every game they played during the regular season. “We talked at the beginning of the year about leaving a legacy, and that has nothing to do with wins and losses, it has everything to do with who you are,” said Rosenthal. “These girls, led by our seniors have done that.” Rosenthal mentioned when you have a season like theirs you expect to win every match you go into and there’s definitely an expectation of going into the tournament and winning. “I don’t think there’s any surprise for us or for anyone else that we want to do this,” said Rosenthal. “We aren’t going to win every set 25-0, we know they’re going to push us.” The Lady Bisons went 20-7 overall...
by Joe Sanderson | Oct 26, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb men’s soccer team won for the third time in a row Saturday night in a 3-1 victory over Longwood. This was a bye week for Lipscomb in terms of conference play, which offered the Bisons a chance to experiment with different strategies in preparation for the end of Atlantic Sun play. “I think a bye week is not a bad thing,” Bisons head coach Charles Morrow said. “For us it is an opportunity, you have questions arise halfway through the season, things you aren’t willing to risk in a conference game.” Morrow believes having the non-conference game scheduled allows them to try things that they cannot in a conference match during the season. “With the substitutions being the way they are it just doesn’t lend itself to try new things. Being able to try something new or switch personnel around in a bye week is good,” Morrow said. Lipscomb struck first in the match when freshman Jonathan Ramirez kicked in a left side goal off of a cross from fellow freshman Ivan Alvarado in the 38th minute. Just 15 minutes later, Lipscomb Junior Anthony Cedano scored his third goal of the season with a persistent play from the right side. Cedano was assisted by junior Josue Chavez. In the 54th minute, less than a minute after Cedano scored, Longwood was called for a foul in the Lipscomb box and senior Luke Gearin was able to capitalize on the penalty kick, tallying his eighth score of the season and putting lipscomb up 3-0. Longwood made it onto the board at 73:24 when Dan Campos took a free kick...
by Joe Sanderson | Oct 11, 2014 | Sports
The Lipscomb Lady Bisons rallied for a 3-2 win after dropping sets one and three to the North Florida Ospreys this afternoon. Each set was decided with no more than a seven point deficit; both were teams in full gear. “Credit goes to North Florida, that team is so good to be 0 and 5,” said Lipscomb libero Bri McCombs. “They’re definitely one of the best teams we’ve played in conference.” McCombs kept several plays alive by leading the Lady Bisons with 17 digs. Brittnay Estes and Sophie Kellerman added 14 digs each. Both Estes and Kellerman posted double-doubles with 14 and 10 kills respectively. McCombs made mention that the Bisons were playing well all around. “Our blocks came in clutch, towards the end of the fifth set and I’m really proud of our offense, our blocks and our defense,” said McCombs. “I’m proud of the whole team.” Saturday night’s win concludes the Lady Bisons 2-0 weekend. Their other win was against Jacksonville University Friday night in four sets. Lipscomb is now 5-0 in the A-Sun and 11-6 overall for the season. The Lady Bisons will be back on the road for two more games next weekend. Their first stop will be at Florida Gulf Coast on Oct. 17, followed by Stetson on Oct....
by Joe Sanderson | Sep 27, 2014 | Sports
The Lipscomb Lady Bisons turned a rough start into a victory in the first Atlantic Sun match of the season. This was the Lady Bisons fourth straight time matching up against Northern Kentucky University for the A-Sun season opener. Lipscomb started out rough giving up eight errors in the first set, eventually dropping the set 25-21 to the Norse. The Lady Bisons took the win with three consecutive set wins by scores of 29-26, 31-29 and 25-20. “There’s no doubt we have a ton of respect for Northern Kentucky and every time we play them we know it’s going to be a battle,” Lipscomb coach Brandon Rosenthal said. “They really make you make the errors. Conference is on the line and nobody is looking to start out 0-1.” Out of five season openers against Northern Kentucky, this is the first time the two teams played it in Allen Arena. The spectators were buzzing with both excitement and anxiety as each set stayed close until the end. Outside hitter senior Lauren Ford led the Lady Bisons in the game with a match-high 23 kills, just two short of her career high. Coming off of a three game slide, she admitted that they needed a win. Another standout performance for the Lady Bisons came from junior Molly Spitznagle. She was credited with 19 kills, a career high for her, and added five blocks to round off her night defensively. “Setting Molly as much as we did was a deliberate move,” Rosenthal said. “With the scouting report we felt we had an advantage with that.” Sophomore Kayla Ostrom’s setting was on point...
by Joe Sanderson | Sep 13, 2014 | Sports
During Saturday’s meet, there was a 30 degrees difference in temperature from the Bisons’ last race at Vaughn’s Gap, the Belmont Opener. Two weeks ago, the men’s and women’s cross country teams were running out of clothing items to remove in the sweltering heat. Two weeks later at the Vanderbilt Classic, they were struggling to find enough to put on. At around 60 degrees, the brisk, overcast morning lengthened their warm-up some, but overall the temperature was welcomed by the participating athletes and fans alike. With nearly double the attendance from the Belmont Opener, Vaughn’s Gap was electric. “We’re thrilled with our women’s performance today. We finished 4th overall without our top three women out there, so, great performances,” head coach Bill Taylor said. Despite withholding Sally Larson, Danielle Walker and Madi Talbert from the competition the Lady Bisons showed that they still have a lot to bring to the table. The trio of runers will compete in Boston in two weeks and coach Taylor is hoping the girls will make a statement. “Maybe not visible to everybody because of not running our top three, but we’re really happy and we feel like it’s setting us up awesomely for the end of the season,” Taylor said. Lipscomb sophomore Barbara Ball finished with a time of 17:43.54. Ball, who is the current Atlantic Sun Runner of the Week, stepped up for the Lady Bisons in her teammates’ absence. “Today was great. The weather was so much better than our last race here,” Ball said. “We added a few girls which definitely helped out the pack. Our solid pack was able...
