by Lindsey Nance | Sep 21, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
Just last week, the Lady Bisons ranked 12th in the Mid-Major Poll — the highest the Bisons have placed this season; this national attention is due, in part, to some of the team’s talented newcomers. Freshman setter Morgan Elmore is one addition to the successful program. Elmore said she had many other schools going after her for a volleyball scholarship, but Lipscomb was an easy choice for her. “I love the family atmosphere of the team, how hard everybody works and the relationship between the teammates,” Elmore said. The standout from Louisville, Kentucky, is majoring in dietetics and is focused on carrying her competitive drive over to her schoolwork as well as with her athletic career. Elmore has high hopes for this season, and said it’s important to stay motivated and hungry as a team to meet their goals. “I hope that as a team we can truly come together to accomplish some great things and make it to the NCAA tournament!” Elmore said. Another newcomer added to this year’s roster is freshman Maddie Phillips. Phillips’ main contributions to this year’s team are her blocking skills and height. She had many other schools calling her as well, but said she was drawn to Lipscomb by the academics and closeness of the volleyball team. “I really like that it’s a small school and has smaller class sizes,” Phillips said. “Lipscomb is giving me a great education along with a new family on the volleyball team.” Another reason she chose to come to Lipscomb is because of the talented coaching staff. “I really like Brandon because he is always there for...
by KJ Lauck | Sep 18, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
A one-hour lightning delay, Chick-fil-A minis and a torrential downpour welcomed the Lipscomb men’s and women’s cross country team to Vaughn’s Gap on Saturday at the Commodore Classic. The lighting delay occurred after the men’s race, which was at 9 a.m. The women were scheduled for 10:00 a.m. but had to wait until 11 a.m. to run. The inclement weather was not common to the Commodore Classic. “It’s pretty rare,” Bill Taylor, Director of Cross Country, said, “It’s only happened once since I’ve been at Lipscomb in 10 years, and it was actually the Belmont race one year, but it’s not very common for that to happen.” Taylor did not believe the weather was an excuse for either team. The men’s team performed well finishing 10th out of 23 teams, while also besting in-town rivals Belmont (12th) and Vanderbilt (18th) in the team rankings. The other in-state schools fared far better as MTSU finished in 1st, Tennessee in 8th, and Tennessee Tech in 9th. “There’s a lot of younger guys who ran their first 8K today of their lives, so that’s a factor for the guys,” Taylor noted. Freshman Brent Leber was the only Bison to finish in the top 50 and finished with a time of 25:29.7. Taylor was pleased with his performance in his first two outdoor meets. “He’s a tough kid, and he’s willing to put himself in position to give himself a chance,” Taylor said. “I think that was his first 8K cross country race, and I just like that he’s brave and that he’s willing to go out there run top of the competition.”...
by Patrick Carpenter | Sep 15, 2016 | News Slider, Opinion, Sports
Well, holy cow. I write this as an assistant coach of a 3-1 team. We have won three games straight and look to continue that this week as we go into Ravenwood. It’s crazy to look back at that week one loss and look at where we are now. This past Friday we beat Brentwood 41-7, and our offense is finally gelling. People are buying into what we can do, and we are in great position going into our off week. We are winning. I was thinking about the word “win” the past few days, and what it means to “win.” Winning on the field is great, but when we only spend three hours during a game, how do we win the other 21 hours during the day, off the field? The unfortunate thing about life is that it is going to hand us losses like that week one loss against Centennial. You think you have everything figured out, and then, just like that, it’s gone. You can drive yourself crazy trying to figure out how or why it happened, but it did. But you know what? It’s okay to walk around and know that you lost. It really is. Sometimes a “win” doesn’t have to be some victorious ride in the sunset. Sometimes a win may not actually be a “win.” Many times a win is waking up in the morning and just doing your job. You don’t have to be okay with your circumstances, but as long as those circumstances don’t affect your day-to-day schedule, you’ve won. I know that I have not been okay with my...
by Todd Lamberth | Sep 14, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
This summer, Lipscomb men’s tennis player Philippe Courteau had the rare opportunity to work with some of the top women’s tennis players in the world. The junior was chosen to be a hitting partner for the players at the Rogers Cup in his home of Quebec, Canada. The Rogers Cup is one of the top tournaments for women. The players were partnered with hitting partners to begin the tournament and could request to continue hitting with them throughout their stay at the tournament. One of the players Courteau was partnered with throughout the nine days was Simona Halep. Halep is currently the fifth-ranked player in the world and would go on to win the tournament. “It was extremely nerve-wracking,” Courteau said, adding, “It was a great experience. Every time we were practicing we had six or seven hundred people there watching.” For Courteau, the experience was about more than just getting to meet and play with professional players. It was about learning from them. The next step for Courteau is taking what he learned in Canada and applying it to not only his game, but also bringing it back to campus and helping his teammates at Lipscomb. “It’s just a lot of self-confidence,” Courteau noted. “They were saying I could go pro, but we have seven other guys here playing at my level. “Just the professionalism, being very serious and dedicated to your craft — I think those are things that can help our program.” Bison head coach Mario Hernandez said that anytime a player gets an opportunity such as Courteau’s, it can make a lasting impact on the...
by Eric Ansett | Sep 14, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
The men’s soccer squad scored a 4-2 victory against its school rivalry, Belmont, on Monday night in front of an energetic crowd at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex. The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Bisons and improved their record to 3-2-0 on the season. Although the annual “Battle of the Boulevard” match was highly anticipated, Coach Charles Morrow said he wanted to treat it just like any other game. “Getting back on the right side of things and putting in a good performance was most important,” Morrow said. “It’s not that we downplayed the rivalry because this game is always special, but tonight was more about us taking a step forward as a group and trying to get ready for conference play.” The Bisons struck early and often in the match. Freshman Javier Leija converted a header on a beautiful cross from sophomore Logan Paynter in the 12th minute, and Lipscomb extended the lead to 2-0 just one minute later when junior Ivan Sauko found the back of the net. Belmont seemed to be back in the game when the Bruins’ Stephen Bailey snuck a header in the top-left corner of the goal early in the second half, but Lipscomb quickly answered when senior Josue Chavez found senior Daniel Vieira, bringing in another goal for the Bisons in the 51st minute. Paynter then tacked on an insurance goal for the Bisons with a dart from the right-side in the 83rd minute. Belmont’s Elliot Jones added a score in the 87th minute, but it was too little too late for the Bruins. Lipscomb dominated in every facet of...
by Becca Risley | Sep 12, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
After a two-day weekend intensive, this year’s cheer team has been announced. The group features 24 Lipscomb students, all of whom have demonstrated skills in tumbling and stunting. “I am so excited to be a part of this wonderful university, athletic department and the cheerleading team,” coach Pam Pearson said. “These individuals have put in so many hours this summer to improve their skills and it showed at tryouts.” In no particular order, the 2016-2017 squad is as follows: Hayden Hines Karlie Wigginton Payton Crider Megan Gillon Addie Britton Aubrey Watson Karley Adams Lindsey Nance Kelsey Nussbaumer Janiah Knight Sierra Knuckles Angelina Facunla Ryan Kibble Heather Greene Katelyn Prine Hunter Brown Hayden Brown D.J. Jones Leticia Adkinson Kalieanna Grant Ashlee Brandon Kiana Janbakhsh Hayden Hall Hannah McFarland In the event of absence or injury, the team has also taken Jamie Feller and Caroline Stack as alternates. The Lipscomb cheer team can be seen on the sidelines and during the halftime show at all basketball home games this season. “We are so far beyond where we ended our season last year and that is due to the talent that we have attracted along with a lot of dedication and hard work,” Pearson said. “We will continue to work hard and we look forward to our first game in Allen Arena.” Photos by Becca Risley...
