by CJ Arndt | Sep 26, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb volleyball team beat the Jacksonville Dolphins 3-1 Saturday in their second match of three in the conference-opening ASUN Crossover Weekend held at Allen Arena. After a disappointing 3-0 loss against the FGCU Eagles on Friday, the Bisons looked to rebound as they faced the Dolphins, who also lost their opener 3-0. The Bisons did just that, winning a 3-1 match to take their first ASUN conference win of the campaign. In the first set, the first point was scored by Lipscomb by way of a block assist by both sophomore setter Delaney Dilfer and sophomore middle blocker Meg Mersman. Jacksonville fought back early and locked the set at 3-3. A kill by senior hitter Logan Gish and a service ace by graduate transfer and defensive specialist Alex Spencer put the Bisons up 5-3. Building off a Jacksonville service error, the Bisons put together a 6 point run led by server Gish putting them up 12-6. The Dolphins fought back with a couple of kills and a Bisons attack error to put the set within 3. The Bisons went on an 8 point tear with 2 kills by Mersman, 1 by senior outside hitter Kam Bacus, and a service ace by sophomore setter Ashleigh Albert built to a 22-10 set score. Jacksonville fought back but it was too little, too late as they put together a 4 point run with a service ace by Niccola Bozzini. The Bisons were still on the attack with a 23-15 lead; kills by Mersman and freshman Addi Pelham, both assisted by Delaney Dilfer, closed the set at 25-15. The Bisons entered the...
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 CJ Arndt | Sep 26, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb softball team swept a season-opening doubleheader on Saturday, winning 2-0 against the Tennessee State Tigers and 12-0 against the Georgia Highlands Chargers. The Bisons came into the match 13-4 all time against the Tigers and this was the first time in at least two years the Bisons have played the Chargers. As the Bisons took the field for the first time in exhibition competition this year, freshman Makayla Veneziale made her way to the circle. The Tigers’ first batter, Meaghan Lewis, lay down a bunt to the third base side and was thrown out. The Bisons got out of the first and gave up no hits and none of the Tigers reached a base. In the bottom of the first, senior Amy Vetula led off for the Bisons, getting to first on a six pitch at bat. Junior Presley Leebrick put a shot to the left-center gap for an RBI double, and Kyndall Crawford drew a walk, loading the bases. The Bisons put up 3 hits, 1 run, and left 3 stranded on the bases. Tori Womack led off the bottom of the second with a double off the fence. The Bisons put up a good half inning with hard hit balls but could not find the grass. The Bisons had 1 hit, 0 runs and 1 left on base. Kamrie Rich hit a solo home run over the left-center wall and brought the Bisons a 2-0 lead over the Tigers with one out in the bottom of the 3rd. With a few more hard hit balls the Bison left the inning with 1 hit, 1 run,...
by CJ Arndt | Sep 25, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb Bisons volleyball team lost to the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles by a 3-0 sweep in a 2020 ASUN finals rematch Friday night. The Bisons came into the match with a 16-12 total record against FGCU and a 3-7 record in the last 10. This match was the first in ASUN Conference play for both teams in one of three ASUN crossover events for each squad this weekend. The first set started out back and forth with neither team gaining ground. With a service ace from freshman defensive specialist Libby Steinhart, Lipscomb pushed the score to 4-2. The Eagles set up a 3 point run to take a 4-5 lead over the Bisons. Lipscomb put up a spot a bit later in the set bringing the score 9-7, following that up with a 5-1 run pulling a 14-10 lead. From there, the Eagles were able to even up the score at 17-17. After various back and forth battles, the score ended up deadlocked at 23-23. With the fans on their feet and the game on the line, Lipscomb went down one but fought back to put the score at 25-25. The set ended 25-27 with the Eagles taking a 0-1 set lead. The second set was started by a FGCU serve with a kill from sophomore middle blocker Meg Mersman giving Lipscomb the 1-0 lead. A long back and forth battle led the score to 7-7. A 5 point run aided by a service ace from sophomore setter Delaney Dilfer and a solo block by Meg Mersman gave the Bisons a 13-10 lead. A 3 point run...
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 Danny Kotula | Sep 21, 2021 | News Slider, Sports, Uncategorized
The Lipscomb men’s soccer team was ranked #18 in the United Soccer Coaches’ top 25 ranking released Tuesday. The ranking represents the highest place Lipscomb have reached all season in the rankings, which are used by the NCAA to rank the best Division I programs in the nation. The Bisons are ranked in the top 25 for the fourth straight week and have been included in every regular season poll this season. After falling from #21 to #22 last week, the Bisons jump four places and close in on the top 15. “I think it’s awesome to see our team continue this unbeaten run,” said sophomore defender Will Turner in a statement. “We’ve worked very hard to get to this spot and we have no plans to slow down.” Last week, Lipscomb settled for a 1-1 draw with archrivals Belmont at home, then won in a 2-1 overtime victory at ASUN opponent Bellarmine to stay undefeated on the season. Sporting a 5-0-2 record, the Bisons are the only unbeaten team left in the Atlantic Division, where they rank 1st. In an award-laden week, junior goalkeeper Michael Sibley was also announced as the ASUN Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday. The London, England native earned his first-ever award after making nine saves and accruing an 82% save percentage across his two matches this week. Sibley and his supporting cast will hit the road to put their perfect record on the line again Tuesday night when they face Butler in Indianapolis. The 2-3-1 Bulldogs host Lipscomb for the second time in the all-time series, which Butler leads 2-0. The...
