Women’s Soccer Season Opener Story & Gallery

Women’s Soccer Season Opener Story & Gallery

Women’s soccer was shut out, 4-0, by the Northern Kentucky Norse in the season opener Thursday night at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex. The loss came after a strong pre-season slate in which they beat South Alabama and Middle Tennessee, outscoring those opponents 7-1. “We had a really good preseason,” coach Kevin O’Brien said. “We had two great performances and two great results.” That success didn’t carry over once the season began, however. The Norse scored the first two goals within the first 10 minutes of play. Both goals came within two minutes of one another. “I thought they started the game brighter than we did,” O’Brien said. “They took the lead pretty quickly and from then on, it was us chasing.” After the first 10 minutes, the Bisons turned things around by outshooting the visitors 8-6 during the half. But those shots didn’t make it past Norse goalkeeper Mimi Stines. In the second half, it was more of the same for the Norse goalkeeper, Stines as she continued to save shot after shot. She finished the game with nine saves and no goals against. The Bisons played two different goalkeepers: Melissa Gray in the first half and Hannah Parish in the second half. Both Bisons goalkeepers finished with two saves and two shots against. “It’s a really interesting game sometimes,because I didn’t think we played particularly poorly, but we gave up four goals,” O’Brien said. “I think someone from the outside would say we got smashed but in reality, we didn’t get smashed, it was a good competition.” The Bisons will host the battle of the boulevard against Belmont...
Lipscomb volleyball to open season at Utah Classic this weekend

Lipscomb volleyball to open season at Utah Classic this weekend

Lipscomb’s volleyball team will begin the quest to improve on last year’s successful season at the season-opening Utah Classic in Salt Lake City this weekend. And the challenge to improve on last season is not an easy one, since the Lady Bisons won the Atlantic Sun Conference and recorded 21 wins and 9 losses, finishing ranked No. 39 at NCAAs a year ago. Having that second best rank in the Lipscomb volleyball program history places a lot of expectations and added pressure to do even better this year, according to some of the freshmen. “There is definitely pressure, the women’s volleyball team has always had a pretty good past, so coming into the season you just have that automatic expectation from the coaches and teammates,” freshman Carlyle Nusbaum said. The Lady Bisons have added six freshmen this year. Carli Anderson, Calayci Coffey, Hannah Hutcheson, Lauren Anderson, Marcella Emmanuelli and Nusbaum were recruited by head coach Brandon Rosenthal, who said all the new players performed at a high level in club and high school volleyball. “They are all very explosive, which suits our game style and program,” Rosenthal said. “They are still very young, so the experience level needs to improve, which will come from playing a lot of matches.” The new players said that in addition to experience, they believe team bonding is essential to success. “We do a lot of team building activities, trying to build close relationships with each other, because that makes such a difference when we play together,” Hutcheson said.  “We have worked really hard as a team up until this point just to be competitive with all the different schools...

Lipscomb golfer Dawson Armstrong receives NCAA Regional bid

School history was made when Lipscomb freshman men’s golfer Dawson Armstrong was selected to compete in the 2015 NCAA Division I men’s golf championship. As the Atlantic Sun Conference Newcomer of the Year, Armstrong is one of 45 individuals chosen to advance to Chapel Hill, North Carolina regional hosted by the University of North Carolina at the University of North Carolina Finley Golf Course. “I am glad I have the chance to represent Lipscomb,” Armstrong said. Armstrong said hopes he can continue his success into the NCAA tournament and show how Lipscomb athletes can compete with the best players. “With college golf, anyone can be just as good as you are,” Armstrong said. “You have to play your best, and sometimes your best is not good enough against college competition.” Armstrong said he has pushed himself to play his finest golf game no matter what the competition is like. Armstrong’s skill has set him up to meet the goals he and Lipscomb head men’s golf coach Will Brewer made at the beginning of the season. “Coach Brewer knew what my goals were going into the season and knows that getting there is a process,” Armstrong said. “He has helped me see the big picture and knows that I have to take each goal little by little and figure out how I can achieve what I have set out to accomplish.” Armstrong will head to North Carolina from May 14-16. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...

Josh Lee sends Lipscomb baseball past No. 1 Vandy

Senior Josh Lee made his way back to where his college baseball career began when he provided the firepower to lift the Bisons past his former team, No. 1 Vanderbilt, Tuesday night. Lee drove in three runs for the Lipscomb baseball team to help guide them to a 3-1 win at Hawkins Field. Before coming to Lipscomb, Lee was recruited by Vandy and played three games for the Commodores his freshman year. In 2013, he transferred to Central Arizona Community College before landing at Lipscomb his junior year. “Once I got on Lipscomb’s campus last year I knew this was home for me,” Lee said. “It’s where I was meant to be.” Lee said that although Vandy was not the right fit for him, he enjoyed building relationships with the coaches and players there. Although brief, his experience there helped him prepare for this game. “It was definitely a different feeling [playing on Hawkins Field] than any other game we have had, but it’s a place I was very familiar with, so I knew what to expect in terms of the crowd and how the field was going to play and what I was going to get from the opposing team,” Lee said. Lee said he followed the advice of his father when he stepped up to the plate. “I didn’t want to make the moment too big,” Lee said. “That’s what my dad always told me to do — just relax, have fun, see the ball, hit it gap to gap and just have that in the back of my mind.” Tuesday night, Lee batted in runs in the first...

Bison hoops finish strong against Kennesaw State on senior night

The Lipscomb men’s basketball team closed out the 2014-15 season with a 94-75 win over Atlantic Sun Conference foe Kennesaw State Saturday morning in Allen Arena. With a solid start to the first half, the Bisons carried their attacking play with a 47-32 lead as sophomore J.C. Hampton executed a lay up. “I thought for the most part we were really solid — I was proud of their effort and I felt like we really played to win,” Lipscomb’s head coach Casey Alexander said. “We played together, which may sound simple, but things haven’t been going our way and sometimes that’s hard to do.” The Bisons controlled the game as sophomore Josh Williams finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists. “The team came together tonight more than we ever have done this season,”  Williams said. “It was great to see a lot of guys contribute to this win. “Rebounding was on point tonight and the guys did really well with their offense but also defense.” Senior Martin Smith came out to the court with an ora of determination for senior night. Smith added 12 points onto the score board. Kennesaw State’s Yonel Brown led all scorers with a 22 points, along with a pair of treys and six free throws. The Bisons recognized graduate student Chad Lang and seniors Chad Johnson and Smith during a pregame ceremony. “It’s so weird that this is the night we wait for during these four years,”  Smith said. “I am so grateful for my time here and it was a great game — kind of a bittersweet. I’m really looking forward to the...