by Aaron Schmelzer | Feb 19, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
Junior volleyball players Lauren Ford and Jewell Dobson will represent Lipscomb University in the tryouts for the United States Volleyball Team, an honor given to only two other athletes in school history. The others, Jake Pease and Alex Kelly, played together from the 2007-08 season to the 2010-11 season. “I grew up looking up to Alex Kelly and Jake Pease, who have been in this position before,” outside hitter Lauren Ford said. “I would look up to [Pease and Kelly], hoping to be as good as them.” “They’re the type of players who have left a legacy at Lipscomb, and to be in the same position they have been in says a lot,” middle blocker Jewell Dobson said. “It just says a lot about our success and the success that the program has had.” The tryouts begin Feb. 21 and go until Feb. 23 at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Volleyball head coach Brandon Rosenthal said that the difference between Pease and Kelly and Dobson and Ford is that the girls this year are going together. In the past, Pease and Kelly traveled separately to the tryouts. This time around, Dobson and Ford will travel together, although Rosenthal doesn’t know if they’ll room together. “I just want them to go and have a great time and just do their best,” Rosenthal said. Rosenthal also said that the only difference the girls will see at the tryouts is the increase in altitude. He mentioned that the ball flies through the air a bit differently, but it will not make a huge difference. The coach, who just finished his...
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 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...
by Hunter Patterson | Oct 12, 2010 | News Slider, Sports
MACON, Ga. – The Atlantic Sun Conference recently concluded its annual fall meetings of athletics directors, senior woman administrators and faculty athletic representatives on the campus of Mercer University. Among the issues the membership approved were sites for future cross country and volleyball championships and format changes for the softball, soccer and tennis championships. The membership awarded future championships to Belmont, for cross country in 2011 and to Lipscomb, for volleyball, in 2011 and 2012. Belmont served as host of the 2004 Cross Country Championship and the meet returns to Nashville for the first time since Lipscomb hosted in 2007. Lipscomb will host volleyball for the first time but the event will return to Nashville for the third time since 2005. Belmont hosted in 2005 and 2006. Three tournaments will undergo changes to their respective formats. In softball, byes will be awarded to the top two seeds, beginning with the 2011 event at USC Upstate. Men’s soccer will return to a single-weekend event, to be played on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at a pre-determined location – beginning in 2011. Starting in 2012, the tennis championships will move to a Friday through Sunday format instead of the current Thursday-Saturday style. The conference announced new initiatives that will launch throughout the year, including an online store that will debut later this month, a renewed agreement with ASunPhotos.com, the creation of a new in-house marketing position, fresh championship marks and a monthly newsletter. The conference will conduct its spring meetings in Daytona Beach, Fla., from June 6-9. This release was taken...
by Hunter Patterson | Oct 3, 2010 | Sports
The Lady Bisons played the first set similar to last night’s match against Mercer — unorganized. However, the Lady Bisons swept Kennesaw State in three sets 25-18, 25-15 and 25-11. KSU was able to take advantage of this unorganized and unbalanced approach by Lipscomb in the first set. “I thought Kennesaw state did a really nice job in the first set of playing good defense,” said coach Brandon Rosenthal. “They put a lot of pressure on us.” The Lady Bisons then regrouped in the second set to win 25-15. “The only thing I asked was for us to keep up our defensive pressure,” Lipscomb sealed the first set 25-18 with a few consecutive kills from senior Alex Kelly. Seniors Alex Kelly, Jake Pease and Megan Hinemeyer took over in the second and third sets, making sure Lipscomb got the win. “They want to win every play,” Rosenthal said. “This is it for them and they know what’s at stake.” Middle blocker Alex Kelly led the Lady Bisons in kills with a match-high 17. She also recorded a match high 17 digs. Kelly hit .483 for the match. Outside hitter Meghan Hinemeyer added 11 digs for the Lady Bisons. Setter Stefine “Jake” Pease made 13 digs and posted 40 assists. Opposite Charlyn Ursell had nine kills and a match high .667 hitting percentage. No Kennesaw State players had more than six kills in the match. Alyssa Lang led the Owls with 12 digs. Camille Pedraza and Rachel Albright each had 10 digs. The Lady Bisons extended their conference regular season win streak to 26 matches. They have won their last 22 matches in...
