by Sydney Poe | Sep 3, 2011 | News Slider, Sports
In what served as their home opener and the first Lipscomb Invitational, the Lady Bisons volleyball team won both matches against Tennessee Tech, bringing their winning streak at Allen Arena to twenty-nine. “This is the first time we’ve hosted the tourney, and it’s fun,” said Coach Brandon Rosenthal. “I’m hoping that these couple wins, especially at home, will help tremendously.” Earlier Friday, the Lady Bisons defeated Tennessee Tech in four sets. They easily won the first set 25-8, before losing the second set 19-25. They followed that up with two wins during their final matches, 27-25 and 25-10 respectively. The Lady Bisons opened their season on the road in Houston, dropping all three matches but not without coming away with good insight to what they have as a team. “I wanted to see if we had a fight in us, and we did,” Rosenthal said. “We’re a young team…and even though we took three losses, we fought hard.” The Lady Bisons swept Charlotte in Friday’s evening match, but it didn’t come without a fight. After winning the first two sets 25-19, the Lady Bisons had to work together as a team to fight off Charlotte’s rally in the third set. When Charlotte came back to set the score at 21-20, Coach Rosenthal called a timeout to bring the team’s focus together. “We wanted to get everybody on the same page and wanted to put a little pressure on them,” Coach Rosenthal recalled of the timeout. The Lady Bisons won the third set 25-23 on a controversial call to take the match. “In the end I don’t know if it...
by Cooper Torrez | Sep 1, 2011 | News Slider, Sports
With the loss of five seniors there will be new leadership, new competition and a whole new look to the Lady Bisons volleyball team this year. However, players and coaches are excited for the season and the new freshman. “Anytime you lose five seniors and bring in five freshman you’re going to have that,” said Lady Bisons coach Brandon Rosenthal. “I am very impressed with our freshman and all five of them [showed up] in great shape, worked hard and a couple of them are competing for starting spots.” Coach Rosenthal thinks that his team had a very good preseason and that their first couple weeks on the floor were “tremendous.” “ “There was competitiveness and it was tooth and nail everyday,” he said. “I really liked what I saw.” The team kicked off the season at the “Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup” last weekend and lost three tough matches to Xavier (3-0), Houston (3-0) and Central Arkansas (3-2). While the scores of the Xavier and Houston matches were both 3-0, the games were very close with most of them being won by no more than two or three points. Junior Kaycee Green, who started all 31 matches for the Lady Bisons last season, is looking forward to the new look of this team on and off the court. “I feel like we are more connected as a team on and off the court,” said Green. “We rely on everyone’s effort and not just two or three people. This year we will need everyone on and off the court to support one another to get the wins.” Coach Rosenthal agrees...
by Vanessa Medina | Mar 22, 2011 | News Slider, Sports
Alex Kelly is the only Lipscomb student who can lay claim to spending a part of her winter playing professional volleyball in Germany. While she’s now back on campus getting ready for graduation, she got her chance to sample the world of professional volleyball over Christmas break after signing a contract with a team in Germany. It started when volleyball coach Brandon Rosenthal called her about a team from Germany that needed a middle hitter. The trip got off to something of an uncomfortable start after the airlines lost her luggage and didn’t locate it for six days. “That was a struggle,” Kelly said. The team there was exactly what she expected from a pro team, with winning being their only focus. This was an entirely different mindset from college athletics in which homework, papers and GPA are all important. Kelly said she loved almost everything about Germany, from the culture to the freezing cold weather. She didn’t like the management of her team, though. “I didn’t feel like I was treated with the respect that you expect and deserve,” Kelly said. “The team was run like a business and the players were not looked at as important. I had so much going for me here at Lipscomb, it was too hard to give it up and be treated that way.” With all those things behind her, Kelly decided to come back to Lipscomb and finish up her studies. She plans on graduating in May with a degree in marketing and a minor in communications. Once she gets her diploma, Kelly plans on trying her hand at professional volleyball again in Europe. While she...
by Rachel Carden | Feb 17, 2011 | News Slider, Sports
A graduate student who played for Kansas State in her undergrad days is bringing her talents to Lipscomb’s volleyball team. Abby Fay, who was red-shirted her freshman year and sat out her last year, still has a year of eligibility to offer while pursuing her MBA at Lipscomb. “We’re really excited about her and the leadership style and ability she will bring to our team,” said coach Brandon Rosenthal. “We’re a completely new team, so we’re definitely looking for that leadership aspect.” A well-rounded player, able to contribute as a setter and libero, Fay brings leadership qualities gained from experience with a Big 12 program, the coach said. Fay says she “feels like a little kid again” by getting to come back and play one more year of volleyball. She played on the same club team as senior hitters Alex Kelly and Meghan Hinemeyer and senior setter Jake Pease. “Their club team was one of the most exciting club teams,” Rosenthal told Mark McGee, Lipscomb sports spokesman. “People gravitated towards them. They were the fiercest and the most competitive team around. They didn’t care who a team was, what the jersey said or how tall the players were they were. They were going to give everything they had.” Although Fay will not have the opportunity to play with her club teammates, the four still remain in contact as Alex Kelly inspired Fay to consider Lipscomb. “I was here visiting this past semester and really felt like this was a place where I could see myself,” said Fay. “It reminded me so much of club volleyball, and club volleyball for me...
by Hunter Patterson | Nov 10, 2010 | News Slider, Sports
From LipscombSports.com — Don’t think badly of the Lipscomb Lady Bisons, but they don’t like to share– at least when it is a regular season championship. “We didn’t want to share anything,” said senior middle blocker Alex Kelly. When the Lady Bisons put the finishing touches on a 3-1 match win over the Belmont Bruins Tuesday night at Allen Arena this edition of the “Battle of the Boulevard” meant more than just another win. The victory gave the Lady Bisons a 10-0 conference record, marking the second season they have finished unbeaten in Atlantic Sun games. Last season under the double-round robin format and in the A-Sun Tournament they finished 22-0 in conference matches. It also extended their conference regular season winning streak to 35 games, second only to Hawaii. They are fourth nationally in home wins in a row with 26. “With all the parity in the conference this season it is tremendous for us to go undefeated,” Rosenthal said. “And we did it in style. “The single round-robin is tough. A 22-0 record might sound better than a 10-0 record. But the 10-0 was much more pressure-packed than 22-0. Our girls have done some awesome stuff.” By finishing without a loss it also guaranteed the Lady Bisons sole possession of the regular season championship. With Kennesaw State sitting in second at 8-1 there was a possibility of having to share the title which they had clinched at least a share of last weekend on the road in Florida. “I credit the girls,” Rosenthal said. “To go undefeated in back-to-back years is really hard to do. It is...
