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, the score was 21-16 Liberty. The Bisons went on a run of their own that brought the score to 21-20. The last six volleys of the set were competitive as each team knew how the complexion of the game could change if the Bisons went up 2-0. However, it was the Flames who came away with the 25-22 victory in the second set of the night.
“They definitely picked up the defensive pressure and put us in a tough spot,” Gish said.
The dramatic shift in control of the game carried over into the third frame of the night. The Flames played their way into an eight-point lead over the Bisons to start set three up 10-2. Freshman outside hitter Kate Phillips imposed her will on the Bisons with four kills, and the Bisons did themselves no favors after nine attacks errors led them to a less competitive 25-18 loss in game three.
The dynamic journey of the night continued in set four when the Bisons, with their backs against a 2-1 wall, managed to find life. The team dug deep to answer every two- or three-point spurt by the Flames. After the midpoint of the set had a score in favor of the Flames 12-10, the team went on a four-point run to stretch the lead to 16-10. With less than 10 points to score, Liberty could see the finish line ahead of them.
The Bisons, however, answered the call with a 9-2 run with contributions from sophomore outside hitter Kamryn Bacus, sophomore setter Ashleigh Albert and Mersman, who continued her steady offensive production. After a service error from sophomore setter Delaney Dilfer, the sore was knotted at 19. The Bisons rallied late in the set to outscore the Flames 6-3 making the final score 25-22.
Momentum was on the Bisons’ side heading into the final set of the night. They did not waste the chance to keep the pressure on Liberty, as about halfway through the deciding set, the Bisons led 7-4. Bacus, Mersman, and Gish all contributed big to the team’s early success in the set. The Flames did not let the moment get too big for them, though, and responded to Lipscomb’s aggression to cut the game to a 10-9 lead for the home team.
The final five points for the Bisons were earned in compelling fashion: Each team traded two
scores a piece and the score was 12-11. The Bisons closed the game with a 3-0 run after two Kennedi Sutter errors, and the game-winner was scored on a Kamryn Bacus kill.
“We saw it all tonight,” Rosenthal said. “I think it’s a credit to our girls. That’s about as dead in
the water as you can be… we had to make some major changes to come out with the win.”
“We found a way, and I’m just really proud of the girls and how we fought for every point.” Gish said.
The Bisons move to 2-1 on the weekend and in the ASUN thus far after they fell to FGCU Friday night in a sweep and defeated the Jacksonville Dolphins in a decisive 3-1 match. The Bisons are now 5-8 overall and have until Friday to rest up from a heavy weekend of volleyball and host ASUN newcomers Central Arkansas at 6 p.m.
Friday’s match against the Bears will be broadcast live on The Bison, Lipscomb’s on-campus radio station. Listen online or via The Bison Radio app.
Photo courtesy of CJ Arndt