by Micah Kennedy | Sep 27, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb volleyball team recovered from a 2-1 deficit to beat the Liberty Flames 3-2 Sunday. The ASUN Crossover tournament, which was hosted at Allen Arena, concluded with the Bisons and the Flames battling in a tightly contested five-set match. The match was the capper to a weekend chock full of ASUN volleyball action, as each of the six teams involved played on three consecutive days. “[I’m] so proud of these girls,” Lipscomb head coach Brandon Rosenthal said. “This is a tough weekend, and all of us had to go through it and it took a lot of guts to come out and compete the way we did.” The first set of the match was a dominant statement for the Bisons, imposing their will on the Flames early. The Bisons jumped out to a 16-3 lead that saw offense coming by way of eight kills, two aces, and six Liberty errors. The Bisons continued their dominance for the rest of the first set, benefiting from five more Liberty errors leading to an eventual 25-12 rout. Senior outside hitter Logan Gish led the team with four kills and sophomore middle blocker Meg Mersman contributed three kills. The Flames came out in the second match with a brand new swagger. The visitors came out swinging and quickly traded back and forth with Lipscomb for the first half of volleys in the second set. Neither team went on a streak of at least three points until the Flames broke a 14-14 tie with a five-point burst with kills from senior middle blocker Aspen Thompson, junior outside hitter Rajini Fitzmaurice and freshman right-side hitter Kennedi Sutter. After the teams traded two errors a piece,...
by Micah Kennedy | Sep 26, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb men’s soccer team lost to the visiting Stetson Hatters 3-2 Saturday night after a compelling game that was decided in extra time. The early goings of the game featured stout defense by both teams. Neither club could make a solid attempt at goal until 16 minutes in, when Hatters junior midfielder Oliver Bryneus took a shot that sailed just wide left. A couple of minutes later, the Bisons had a good string of passes that led to a shot by junior midfielder Hayes Wood, but the strike was stopped by Hatters sophomore goalkeeper Owen Jack. It was the Hatters who got on the board first near the 21st minute of play. The team benefitted from a Lipscomb defender inadvertently deflecting a cross on frame that sailed into the goal giving the Hatters a fortuitous 1-0 lead. Stetson continued to play stout defense over the next 12 minutes of the first half. The Bisons finally broke through the Hatters defense for a quality look at a goal and drew a foul to set up a Bisons penalty kick. Owen Jack made a great initial effort to block senior midfielder Louis Robinson’s attempt. But Robinson’s tenacious second effort led to the equalizer 33 minutes into play, making the score 1-1. The remainder of the half involved two shot attempts by Stetson and one by Lipscomb, but neither team could orchestrate scoring offense going into the break. The second half was dominated by the Bisons early on. The first 20 minutes of play included six shots by Lipscomb, including a close miss hitting the right post by sophomore forward Javanne Smith that left him in disbelief....
by Micah Kennedy | Sep 23, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
Five conference opponents will make their way to Nashville with hopes to start their conference schedules with wins. A weekend full of ASUN matchups will mark the beginning of conference competition at Allen Arena on Friday at 12 pm. Lipscomb is hosting one of the six-team ASUN Crossover events this weekend, while the other will be at Jacksonville State. Bellarmine, Eastern Kentucky, FGCU, Jacksonville and Liberty will all participate in the event at Lipscomb, and each school will play once per day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for a 3-game event. Lipscomb head coach Brandon Rosenthal’s team will open the weekend with an ASUN finals rematch against the FGCU Eagles on Friday at 6 pm. “When the conference makes that your first matchup you just kind of smile and chuckle.” Rosenthal said. “I think it ups the ante a little bit. There’s no doubt that FGCU will come in ready and we’re quite a bit different team than what we were last year.” The makeup of this year’s team is indeed different from last year. While many teams in the ASUN retained graduating seniors for another year due to the pandemic, the Bisons did not. As a result, the team carries a mix of seniors and underclassmen with not much playing experience. Sophomore outside hitter Kamryn Bacus is one of the younger players that excelled last season. She views the weekend as an opportunity for the team to reap the benefits following non-conference play against some of the nation’s top programs. “The level of play has been so high, and we’ve been held to a high standard.” Bacus said. “I feel like we’ve learned...
by Micah Kennedy | Sep 18, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
The regular season picture is clear for the Bisons basketball team after their full schedule was released Thursday. The season opens at home on Nov. 9 against the Birmingham Southern Panthers, a Division III opponent that the Bisons used to regularly play during their time in the NAIA. Later in the week, the team will head to Charleston, South Carolina, for the College of Charleston Multiteam Event. There, the team will face College of Charleston on Nov. 12, South Carolina State on Nov. 13, and Loyola University-Maryland on Nov. 14. To close out the month of November, the Bisons face a Dayton team that appeared in the NIT last season on Nov. 17, neighboring Cookeville’s Tennessee Tech on Nov. 23, and NAIA member Kentucky Christian in a return home on Nov. 28. December’s slate of games opens with the anticipated Battle of the Boulevard game versus the Belmont Bruins at the Curb Event Center on Dec. 2. Third-year head coach Lennie Acuff is still seeking his first win in this historic rivalry against the Bruins. The home schedule for the remainder of the month sees Lipscomb host Chattanooga on Dec. 5, Tennessee State on Dec. 12, Tennessee Wesleyan on Dec. 19, and Alabama A&M on Dec. 30. The remaining December road schedule will arguably feature the team’s toughest competition all season. On Dec. 8, the team will travel to South Beach to play the University of Miami Hurricanes. The Hurricanes played three ASUN opponents last season with a notable loss to FGCU, an opponent the Bisons split games with in regular season play last year. The next road game...
by Micah Kennedy | May 6, 2021 | News Slider, Sports, Uncategorized
Fans of the Lipscomb softball team were treated to a nail-biter Wednesday after three late-game runs secured a 3-2 victory for the team over Tennessee State. This was the team’s first game back since April 20 due to a recent team quarantine, which led to questions about if the team would come out slow. That was soon answered after the early innings of the game. The Lady Bisons weren’t able to create offense early and trailed 2-0 through five innings. The Lady Tigers two runs came in the third inning after junior shortstop Lauren Farias scored on an error, and sophomore outfielder Analeigh Coursey scored by way of a sac fly. The offensive drought came to an end in the sixth inning when sophomore outfielder Presley Leebrick led off the inning with a solo homer to right field. That burst of offense set up what would be an eventful final inning. Breanna Burke pitched a strong final inning, not allowing any hits and striking out two batters in the process. The bottom half of the inning started with a double to centerfield from senior infielder Jenna Endris. Following that, sophomore infielder Kelly Paulson, entered the game as a pinch-runner. Paulson advanced to third off a sac bunt from junior outfielder Jessie Brown. Paulson then scored from a single to right center by junior outfielder Abby Davis. Following the hit, Davis stole second base. This all set up a walk-off ground single batted by junior infielder Amy Vetula. The win boosted the team to a winning record, finishing the regular season at 17-16. The Lady Bisons will hit the road for the first round of the ASUN tournament facing the Liberty Flames. The first...
