by Danny Kotula | Oct 3, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb women’s soccer team took down the Kennesaw State Owls 3-0 Sunday afternoon at Lipscomb Soccer Complex. A consistent performance from the Bisons was a stark contrast from the inconsistent weather on the afternoon, as strong winds and rain plagued the players and supporters from the opening whistle. Per usual, Lipscomb’s attack created problems for its opponent from the start. True freshman midfielder Noa Ganthier registered the first shot of the match inside of 10 minutes, one of ten that the Bisons would go on to attempt in the first half alone. Ganthier, a native of Boca Raton, Florida, contributed 56 minutes for Lipscomb in a continuation of her impressive freshman campaign. Outside back Angela Steidl, a sophomore and transfer from Furman, picked up a head injury in the 12th minute that removed her from the rest of the contest. She was replaced by Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, defender Summer Ellmore, who put up a season-high 65 minutes against the Owls in Steidl’s stead. Despite Lipcomb’s possession advantage and high-pressing style, they were unable to find many clear-cut chances, and the first twenty minutes passed with few obvious opportunities for either side. One exception developed in the 26th minute, when Auburn transfer Cami Rogers fired a shot from the edge of the box that forced an outstretched save from KSU goalkeeper Dylan Pixton. The inclement weather reached its peak soon after, when lightning was spotted and a weather delay was instigated at the 27th minute. The delay that ensued lasted nearly two hours, as various lightning strikes continued to delay the restart further. Once the match did resume, though,...
by CJ Arndt | Oct 2, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb volleyball team mauled the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears in 3 straight sets Friday night. Bisons volleyball encountered the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears on home turf for the teams’ first-ever contest as ASUN conference rivals. The teams faced off for the first time since 2011 when the Bisons lost in a 2-3 contest. The Bisons had a 2-1 weekend to build off of with a pair of wins to finish off the ASUN Crossover Weekend. The Bisons were second in the ASUN West standings going in. “I think the consistency in practice was very good and the ability to transition from defense to offense was excellent,” said head coach Brandon Rosenthal after his team’s third consecutive win. The first set was started with a kill by freshman right side hitter from Lenexa, Kansas, Addi Pelham. Lipscomb put together a 6 point run led by server Delaney Dilfer. The set was pushed to 7-2 before a Lipscomb error led to a 4 point run with 2 kills by the Sugar Bears and closed the gap to 7-6. Libby Steinhart, a freshman defensive specialist and libero from Mt. Vernon, Indiana, led the Bisons on a 4 point run with 4 kills. 2 kills came from Logan Gish, a senior outside hitter from Pleasant Hill, Missouri. After another 3 point run by Lipscomb with 2 assists by sophomore setter from Austin, Texas Delaney Dilfer. Lipscomb led 16-9. A 4 point run from the Sugar Bears led by sophomore setter Anna Myers 3 assists bringing the set within 3 points at 18-15. A service ace by graduate student libero and defensive specialist...
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 Gunnar Eng | Sep 29, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
While attending games at Lipscomb, fans can witness the direct impact of the coaches, as they get timeouts at crucial moments and as they call plays. What spectators don’t witness is what goes on behind the scenes to get a team ready to succeed. One crucial element in game prep is the strength and conditioning coaching that is necessary for players to stay in shape and healthy. “Our main goal and focus is to keep the athletes healthy,” said assistant strength coach Sean Johnson. “We want to make all of the athletes at Lipscomb better at their sport by making them stronger, and keeping conditioning up to par.” Though strength and conditioning are pivotal during the season, it takes a front-row seat in the athlete’s training during the off-season. John Hudy, Lipscomb’s head strength coach, said that while some athletes build muscle during the season, most muscle and stamina gains happen when the sport is not in season. “As soon as the season ends, we start training immediately,” said Hudy. “We can really build strength and stamina during those times not dedicated to games, and build for the upcoming season.” Most athletes are full-time students, while also having to attend practices daily and games at least weekly, or even more often. In the offseason, though, is when the training broadens. “Especially in season, players will get turned off to lifting weights, because they believe it’ll make them sore or have ‘heavy legs,’” said Johnson. “But we let them know that’s not our goal; we know that consistently training with us will help them recover faster and stay healthy.” While...
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 Allie Greenhaw | Sep 26, 2021 | News Slider, Sports, Student Spotlight
Kyle Wilson, a junior Data Science major from Atlanta, Georgia, has been gaming for much of his life. “It’s just something that I’ve always been passionate about,” says Wilson. “I know that sounds silly, but like, all throughout high school, that’s like all I did. That’s how I made friends. After school, we all lived like 45 minutes away from each other so we could just hang out online. And then in college, I could do it in person through a club and online. “[In my] freshman year, I saw a gaming club poster on campus, and I got really excited because that’s what I did in high school. I joined the meeting and they told me about esports meetings. When I went to the first one, there were only five of us, so we didn’t even have to do tryouts. So I joined another team as well that did involve tryouts, and was on both teams that semester. I had a blast! I had a lot of fun. Then one of the teams fell apart because people graduated, but the other team kept going and I ended up making most of my friends that way. We created a friendship outside of the team, too. We called ourselves the LUsers — we weren’t very good! But we had fun, and that’s what mattered to us.” At first, the LUsers’ meetings were pretty quiet, but as they played more, the team began to open up and goof around a little more, and Wilson says it was pretty much downhill from there. The LUsers grew and started creating club leadership. Now, all of the people on the team are leaders, excited to welcome a...
