by Lindsey Nance | Oct 19, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb Bisons silenced the Belmont Bruins in the Battle of the Boulevard rivalry game Tuesday night in Allen Arena. Although now in different conferences, the two schools face off every year and keep the rivalry alive.Lipscomb (12-7) defeated Belmont (11-7) in a 3-1 match. Lipscomb won the first set 25-21, fell in the second set 25-23, dominated set three 25-14 and finished off the Bruins in the fourth set 25-17. “I am proud of our girls. I thought they did a great job. I was really pleased with what we did,” head coach Brandon Rosenthal said. “I thought our middles did a great job, especially towards the end, of really establishing the block.” Lipscomb and Belmont battled in the first match head to head before Lipscomb outside hitter Katie Bradley slammed it down the middle to give the Bisons some momentum. Carlye Nusbaum followed Bradley with a wicked kill down the line to put Lipscomb ahead 17-11 and force Belmont to call a timeout. Arianna Person for Belmont gave the Bisons a hard time on the outside with her speed and jumping ability as the Bruins began to catch up at 20-15. Nusbaum slammed it down the middle to finish off the Bruins 25-21 with her seventh kill of the game. Katie Bradley came ready to play once again in set two starting it off with a kill. The game bounced back and forth until Belmont began to capitalize on the Bison’s errors and pull ahead 13-8. After the timeout call, Lipscomb score four consecutive points but still trailed by one. Just when the Bisons took the lead and gained...
by Eric Ansett | Oct 16, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb returned to its winning ways Friday night in Allen Arena by defeating NJIT in straight sets, but it wasn’t the performance coach Brandon Rosenthal was looking for. The Bisons needed a 6-0 run to sneak out a first-set win after falling behind 19-22. The second set also saw Lipscomb fall behind early before a 17-4 run to finish gave them an easy 25-16 win. The third set was never close as the Bisons cruised to a 25-13 victory to sweep the Highlanders, who are winless in conference play. “Unfortunately, it has been challenging for us this year to come out with more of a sense of urgency,” Rosenthal said after the win. “That’s just something we need to continue to get better at. There’s no doubt I was a little frustrated, but we found a way to get it done at the end of the (first) set. I wasn’t terribly pleased with the next set either. I liked what I saw in the third set.” Coach Rosenthal referenced some recent words from sophomore Jenny Phelan when talking about the Bisons. “Jenny said it best the other day saying that they (players) have to do more so that we can do less. They have to go out and execute and that is hard sometimes, but the difference between good and great teams is great teams find a way to make that happen. My message to the team was that we have to learn from these experiences throughout the year.” Chloe Rodgers led the Bisons with nine kills in the match, followed by Taylor Racich, who tallied eight kills. Lipscomb’s duo of...
by KJ Lauck | Oct 12, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
The Dove Awards artists were practicing their pitch while the Lipscomb men’s soccer team (7-5-1, 2-2) played its way to victory on the pitch, defeating the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Blazers (6-4-3, 2-1-1), 1-0 on Tuesday night at Lipscomb’s Soccer Complex. Through the first 10 minutes of play, Lipscomb controlled much of the possession through the midfield and had three shots on goal adding to the two free kick opportunities, which pressured the Blazers. “I thought our midfield play was fantastic tonight,” head coach Charles Morrow said. “A good emphasis for us was to win first and second balls, and I thought our midfield did a great job of that.” Lipscomb senior goalkeeper, Micah Bledsoe, made a save right in front of Lipscomb’s goal in the 17th minute to preserve a 0-0 score. Shortly after, UAB had a breakaway chance, but the Blazers were unable to take advantage of the breakdown in Lipscomb’s defense. After the chance, the pressure shifted to Lipscomb. UAB controlled the next 15 minutes of possession as Lipscomb struggled with the Blazers’ pressure. The Bisons found their footing for a short burst before halftime, firing off four shots in a short five-minute window. The score remained 0-0 at halftime. Lipscomb began the second half with a goal from junior forward Ivan Sakou (4), as he received a low-arching cross from sophomore, forward and leading goal-scorer, Logan Paynter, who added his third assist on the year. The goal gave the Bisons a 1-0 lead. “I thought Logan Paynter gave them all that they wanted today, and we were able to find him high and wide right away...
by KJ Lauck | Oct 9, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
The Lady Bisons soccer team (9-4-2, 3-1-1) tied the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (9-4-1, 3-0-1) on Sunday afternoon at Lipscomb Soccer Complex. The Eagles controlled possession for the first 25 minutes of play and spend a lot of time in the Lipscomb defensive third. Florida Gulf Coast finally capitalized in the 26th minute with a goal from senior forward Tabby Tindell, giving the Eagles a 1-0 lead. Freshman forward Emilie Olsen assisted. Lipscomb did not get many chances after that goal and went into the half trailing 1-0. The Eagles’ dynamic duo came out in the second half and struck again in the 48th minute with a goal from Olsen, extending the Florida Gulf Coast lead 2-0, with Tindell assisting. The Bisons responded with a well-executed set piece that led to a shot on goal in the 60thminute; however the Eagles’ goalkeeper, freshman Melissa Weck, made a jumping save to preserve the Eagles’ lead, 2-0. After the Eagles second goal, both teams traded possession, and each kept the other from many quality chances. Lipscomb then drew a penalty kick in the 76th minute, and redshirt-junior Ellen Lundy cut the deficit 2-1, which gave the Lady Bisons new energy. “Ellen’s a great target player – she was conference freshman of the year and scoring a ton of goals for us,” Head coach Kevin O’Brien said. The Lady Bisons pressed the Eagles late in the match, trying to mount a comeback, and with 10 minutes remaining, O’Brien put in his leading goal-scorer, freshman Olivia Doak. The goal made the Lady Bisons hit another gear. “Yeah, I think we did actually,” O’Brien said. “I felt like the whole...
by Anna Rogers | Oct 9, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
The men’s soccer team (6-5-1) evened their conference record to 2-2 after a 2-1 victory against USC Upstate (3-7, 1-2) Saturday night. The game was the fourth Lipscomb win in a row over the Spartans. The match was the only conference game played all weekend after the other four were cancelled due to Hurricane Matthew. “We knew we had to keep playing our game and keep fighting,” commented redshirt sophomore forward Logan Paynter. “We knew we would break them down with our style of play if we kept at it.” A quick shot in the 16th minute got behind senior goalkeeper Micah Bledsoe and led to a Spartan 1-0 lead, setting the tone for the rest of the half. Throughout the first 45 minutes USC Upstate outshot Lipscomb 7-4, despite the Bisons having a 4-3 advantage in corner kicks. “At halftime we were very specific about what we had to do: be aware of every opportunity,” noted junior forward Ivan Sakou. The Bisons came out in the second half significantly more aggressive on both offense and defense, leading to several hopeful counter attacks; however, the team failed to finish many set pieces and passes into the box early in the half. In the 65th minute, Logan Paynter caught a quick pass in the 6-yard box and sent a powerful shot past the goalkeeper to even the score 1-1. The goal was assisted by Ivan Sakou and junior midfielder and forward Ivan Alvarado. The goal proved to be a big momentum turner for the Bisons, who got 7 shots off in the next 10 minutes. Lipscomb continued the strong offensive play...
by Lindsey Nance | Oct 9, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
Florida Gulf Coast was out for blood this year after losing to the Lady Bisons in both meetings last year. The Lady Bisons hoped to continue their winning streak after their win last night against Stetson, but FGCU defeated the Lady Bisons in three quick sets Saturday night. “Florida Gulf did a nice job of coming out and executing their game plan, and, unfortunately, that leaves us sitting here pondering on a lot,” head coach Brandon Rosenthal said. Kayla Ostrom, Lauren Anderson, Taylor Racich, Brittany Thomas, Carlyle Nusbaum, Maddie Phillips and Katie Bradley started the match in Allen Arena and fell behind FGCU early on in the first set. Lipscomb called a timeout in set one with the score 10-4 to try to switch the momentum. Nevertheless, the Lady Bisons fell behind early on and never came back. FGCU extended the lead to 16-8, and then dominated the net to move to 21-11, leaving the Lady Bisons in the dust. Lipscomb eventually fell to the Eagles 25-14. “We hadn’t been beat like this all year, and it’s alarming,” Rosenthal stated. The second set started off much better for the Lady Bisons as they quickly jumped ahead to 7-3. FGCU called a timeout to try to freeze Lipscomb but to no avail. The Lady Bisons pushed ahead, keeping their early lead. FGCU battled at the net until tying up the game 11-11. Lipscomb tried to gain the lead back but fell behind 14-11. The Eagles took advantage of this momentum, winning set two 25-18. Despite the Lady Bisons offense’s slow start, Nusbaum kept her double figure kill streak in place,...
