Lipscomb women’s volleyball (8-2) finished a successful opening home weekend with a 3-0 victory over the Virginia Tech Hokies (4-5) in the final match of the LUV Invite.
The Lady Bisons went 2-0 in their first two matches at the invite, besting two “Power-5” schools, Ole Miss and Northwestern, in the process.
Lipscomb found a groove late in the first set and trailed the Hokies 13-10.
“This is one of those where they had to dig deep,” head coach Brandon Rosenthal said.
Back-to-back blocks by freshman Maddie Philips and a Virginia Tech error helped Lipscomb storm back to trim the Hokie lead to one, 19-18.
Lipscomb came all the way back to claim the first set, 25-21. The teams had the same amount of digs with 18, but Lipscomb held the advantage in kills 14-8, blocks 5-3 and assists 13-6.
The Lady Bisons had three players who had four digs and were lead by senior Kayla Ostrom, who had eight assists, which was two more than Virginia Tech had as a team.
“Kayla does a fantastic job, and I told her earlier in the match we were going to need her leadership, and I believed in her,” Rosenthal said.
Once the Lady Bisons found their collective groove, Lipscomb started establishing the pace and raced out to an early 6-1 lead in the second set.
The contest would remain tight till the end as the Lady Bisons held a 19-18 lead this time.
Lipscomb held on late and won the second set 25-21. They led in digs 13-12, kills 15-10, blocks 5-4 and assists 14-8.
The Lady Bisons were lead by junior Brittany Thomas, who led the team with four digs, Ostrom, who added to her assist total with six more assists, and sophomore Carlyle Nusbaum, who led Lipscomb with five kills.
Virginia Tech trailed early again 6-2, and this enabled Lipscomb to seize control of the third set.
Lipscomb finished off the Hokies in the third and final set, 25-20, winning the match 3-0. The Lady Bisons went undefeated during the three-game tournament and lost just one set for the tournament’s duration.
“It’s one of those resume builders for us,” Rosenthal stated.
Nusbaum led Lipscomb in overall kills with 15, but Rosenthal said he still sees room for improvement.
“That was a tough one for her. She obviously didn’t have everything today that she typically does, and it’s a growing moment for her,” Rosenthal noted.
Even with the success in the tournament, Lipscomb felt the effects of the three matches.
“Three matches in less than 48 hours, and three tough matches against tough opponents brings a lot of mental strain and obviously fatigue,” Rosenthal said. “It’s kind of mind over matter, and I think we work hard throughout the year to make sure we can compete.”
The Lady Bisons travel to Louisville, Kentucky, to play the Louisville Cardinals for their next match on Friday, Sept. 16 at 6:00 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics