The Lipscomb Lady Bisons turned a rough start into a victory in the first Atlantic Sun match of the season.
This was the Lady Bisons fourth straight time matching up against Northern Kentucky University for the A-Sun season opener. Lipscomb started out rough giving up eight errors in the first set, eventually dropping the set 25-21 to the Norse. The Lady Bisons took the win with three consecutive set wins by scores of 29-26, 31-29 and 25-20.
“There’s no doubt we have a ton of respect for Northern Kentucky and every time we play them we know it’s going to be a battle,” Lipscomb coach Brandon Rosenthal said. “They really make you make the errors. Conference is on the line and nobody is looking to start out 0-1.”
Out of five season openers against Northern Kentucky, this is the first time the two teams played it in Allen Arena. The spectators were buzzing with both excitement and anxiety as each set stayed close until the end.
Outside hitter senior Lauren Ford led the Lady Bisons in the game with a match-high 23 kills, just two short of her career high. Coming off of a three game slide, she admitted that they needed a win.
Another standout performance for the Lady Bisons came from junior Molly Spitznagle. She was credited with 19 kills, a career high for her, and added five blocks to round off her night defensively.
“Setting Molly as much as we did was a deliberate move,” Rosenthal said. “With the scouting report we felt we had an advantage with that.”
Sophomore Kayla Ostrom’s setting was on point for the Lady Bisons. She posted a career high 59 assists in the game.
“Kayla set great. I think we just out-competed, out-scrapped,” said Spitznagle. “We had some key plays that brought us to that win. It was very exhilarating, very heart-wrenching. In sets three and four I thought Kayla really settled in,” Rosenthal said.
All of the Lady Bisons were on the same page. Team captain Lauren Ford gave what she believed to be the key to their evening’s success.
“We had some passion and said let’s do it. We’re sick of losing, let’s go for it,” said Ford.
The Lady Bisons get to take the rest of the weekend off before preparing to take on USC Upstate and Kennesaw State the following weekend.