The Lady Bisons swept both Tulane and Pittsburgh this weekend at the Pitt Invitational. Their only loss was on Saturday morning when they were swept by Purdue. Kacey Greene and Alex Kelly were named to the All Tournament team for their weekend performance.
From LipscombSports.com :
Lipscomb Lady Bisons split matches in Pitt Invitational
Lipscomb outside hitter Kaycee Green is on the top of her game this
weekend and has made an impact on the Lady Bisons.
In Friday afternoon’s 3-0 win against Tulane Green led the way with a
match-high 12 kills and a .333 hitting percentage.
“Kaycee has been willing to work hard offensively and defensively,”
Lady Bisons coach Brandon Rosenthal said. “When she is willing to work
hard offensively and defensively she can be one of the top players in
the conference.
“When things slow down for her, and she doesn’t work as hard, she
becomes an average player. We have been working hard since last year
to get her to understand that.”
Green was a member of the Atlantic Sun All-Freshman Team last season.
“The game becomes very easy to her in some regards,” Rosenthal said.
“At this level you have to work every day and for every point. I am
real pleased with what she did in both the Purdue and Tulane matches.”
Earlier in the day the Lady Bisons had opened with a 3-0 loss to Purdue.
The Tulane win was the first match sweep of the season for the Lady
Bisons, 3-2. Tulane fell to 0-4.
“We have to be able to take some of the lessons we have learned and
move forward,” Rosenthal said. “We talked about the San Francisco win
last week when we let them back in the match and had to go to four
sets with them.
“We did some really nice stuff to put a lot of pressure on Tulane.
They hit a negative .03. If we don’t learn from these tournaments we
are missing the bigger picture.”
The Lady Bisons won the sets with Tulane by scores of 25-18, 25-18 and 25-13.
“I thought we did a great job,” Rosenthal said. “From the first point
we had a lead and we really didn’t let up the whole time. We did a
nice job serving. We were able to do a lot of things offensively. I
thought most of it was because our defensive effort was really strong.
“Tulane is a quality program that went to the NCAA Tournament last
year. They are a top 100 team.”
Middle blocker Alex Kelly added nine kills and 10 digs, a match high.
“Our numbers were pretty well distributed,” Rosenthal said. “I thought
Alex played well. Even on days when she isn’t having her best
offensive game she can bring so much to the table defensively.
“It is just another aspect of her game that sets her apart. Most of it
is because of the passion she plays with.”
Lady Bisons’ setter Stefine “Jake” Pease had 27 assists and a .333
hitting percentage.
Izabela Grot led Tulane with 10 kills.
The Lady Bisons face tournament host Pitt Saturday at 10 a.m. to close
out the trip.
“I expect a pretty hard-fought battle from Pitt,” Rosenthal said. “I
think our teams are very similar.
“We both have strong play out of our middles. It is going to be one of
those matches where the team that can limit errors and build on
momentum is going to win. If we get a lead we can’t let Pitt back in.”
Kelly, Green, Pease lead Lady Bisons to 3-0 sweep of Pitt
A team can quantify its success in serving based on service aces, but Lipscomb Lady Bisons’ coach Brandon Rosenthal thinks that only tells a part of the story.
The Lady Bisons made six service aces Saturday morning in a 3-0 match sweep of the host University of Pittsburgh in the Pittsburgh Invitational. Pitt did not have service ace.
“We have always said we are going to be a top serving team,” Rosenthal said. “but we are not going to have a ton of aces.
“It is always a good thing to have more aces than errors, but it can be a little misleading. What the stat sheet doesn’t tell is how many bad passes were caused by our top servers.”
The Lady Bisons won by set scores of 25-15, 25-17 and 25-13.
As a team the Lady Bisons, 4-2, posted a .418 hitting percentage. Pitt, 0-6, hit .136.
“It all starts with the serve,” Rosenthal said. “We have a solid defense around us.
“I don’t want to say it is a snowball effect, but you are dictating the tempo and the style of play. Defense is one of our strengths. We work extremely hard at being able to put ourselves in good positions. When we do that to teams it is tough to beat us.”
It was the second match sweep in a row for the Lady Bisons who beat Tulane 3-0 Friday. The Lady Bisons finished the tournament with a 2-1 record, losing 3-0 to Purdue in the first match.
“The girls came out from the first point with something to prove,” Rosenthal said. “It showed something about the team that they weren’t satisfied with getting one win.
“I liked the fact they came out and dictated the match. They did a nice job serving. They put a lot of pressure on the other team as far as pushing them into some bad positions.”
Middle blocker Alex Kelly had 13 kills and 15 digs, both match highs. It was the first match of the tournament that she finished in double figures in kills. Kelly also had a .393 hitting percentage.
“We took the middle away from Pittsburgh,” Rosenthal said. “By doing that we limited their options.”
Outside hitter Kaycee Green finished with 12 kills, her second match in a row to finish with double figures in kills. She also had a .476 hitting percentage.
Setter Stefine “Jake” Pease made 42 assists and had a .375 hitting percentage.
Outside hitter Meghan Hinemeyer was credited with 12 digs.
“On the defensive end I thought Stephanie Rex and Dot Dotson did nice jobs as well,” Rosenthal said. “I thought Charlyn Ursell did a great job serving. She put Pitt into tough spots with her jump serve. Jake and Rex also did well serving.”
The Lady Bisons are home for the first time this season Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. when Tennessee State visits.