In an ASUN volleyball match featuring the surging Lipscomb Bisons and the struggling Jacksonville Dolphins, Saturday’s contest went exactly as expected.
The Bisons (11-8, 6-1 ASUN) limited the Dolphins (2-18, 1-7 ASUN) to an average of 11.6 points per set in a 3-0 thrashing at Allen Arena.
“If [Jacksonville is] able to get comfortable, it gets kind of tricky,” Lipscomb coach Brandon Rosenthal said. “[But] I thought we added the pressure right from the beginning, and we never let up from that.”
It was a tough day for the Dolphins, who combined for a hitting percentage of .041. Junior outside hitter Mallory Mattingly led the team with seven kills, but she also committed 10 errors and posted a hitting average of minus-.083.
“Going into this match it was just about [keeping] the pressure,” Rosenthal said. “We wanted them to change because of us.”
The star of the game was Bisons senior middle blocker Ca’Layci Coffey, who led the match with 14 kills and a hitting average of .737. Rosenthal called her “one of the hardest workers on the team.”
“When she’s on, she’s on,” Rosenthal said. “And (the) past couple matches she’s really been able to turn it up just a little bit more each time.”
The Bisons started the day with a 25-13 win in the first set. The Dolphins kept it close at first and were only down 9-7 before Lipscomb broke away. Coffey led the way with four kills, and senior outside hitter Carlyle Nusbaum scored the set point on a kill that landed in the back of Jacksonville’s territory.
In the second set, the Bisons once again took off while already leading 8-6 and finished the set with six unanswered points for a 25-12 win. Coffey led with five kills in the set, including the final point.
The Bisons’ most dominant performance came in the third set with a 25-10 win. They started out with an 11-1 lead, which Jacksonville countered with a 4-0 run of their own, including two Mattingly kills.
But it wasn’t enough, as the Bisons regained momentum and finished the set with a kill from Coffey, who once again posted a team-high five kills to cap off her dominant performance.
Here’s the game-winning kill from @calayci_coffey in @LipscombVBall’s 3-0 sweep of Jacksonville this afternoon. Bisons are now 11-8 overall and 6-1 in @ASUNVolleyball pic.twitter.com/SngY9hdKX0
— Lumination Network (@luminationnet) October 14, 2018
“We did exactly what we wanted to do today,” Rosenthal said.
The Bisons will continue their ASUN slate at home with a match against Kennesaw State on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m.
Featured image courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics