by Carly Bergthold | Apr 23, 2015 | News Slider, Sports
Student athletes traded their uniforms for formal wear for the second annual Lippy Awards Wednesday evening in Allen Arena. The Lippys honor athletes, coaches and others who contribute in various ways to Lipscomb sports teams. Before the show, guests enjoyed live music from Marquee Mayfield and showed off their formal wear at photo booths. The show was hosted by soccer coach Chris Klotz and cross county coach Marcus Evans. To begin, the James R. Byers Award was presented to senior field thrower April Terry and senior baseball player Josh Lee. It is the highest award given to student-athletes. Terry quoted the Mary Mary song “God in Me” in her acceptance speech, saying, “I hope that you see that I’m really not that outstanding, but all of the accolades, the records, the titles – it’s all God working.” Lee, who made his way from Vandy to Central Arizona College and finally landed at Lipscomb, said that he’s blessed for the opportunities at Lipscomb. “This is a great accomplishment, but the one thing I’ll remember is all the relationships I’ve built with my teammates,” Lee said. Golfer Dawson Armstrong and cross country runner Paige Stoner took home the male and female Freshman of the Year awards. Senior soccer player Luke Gearin won International Player of the Year. Women’s soccer coach Kevin O’Brien received the Don Meyer Head Coach of the Year for his inspiration to the athletic program. “I think I have the best job in the world,” O’Brien said. “I’m so thankful to get to work with the girls I work with every day.” Luke Syverson, who coaches track and field, was...
by Brianne Welch | Dec 6, 2014 | Sports
The Lady Bisons lost 3-0 to Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament to bring their season to a close. Friday night started out with an exciting up-beat atmosphere as the Lady Bisons took to Memorial Coliseum on Kentucky’s campus. Many Bison fans and parents made the trip to Lexington to support the team, and Lipscomb fans outnumbered Ohio State fans in attendance. Despite the amount of support for the Bisons, Ohio State took all three sets. The first set was a fight as the team came out strong only to fall 25-20. The Buckeyes dominated the second set winning 25-14, and completed the win with a 25-18 victory in the final set of the night. During the match, Ohio State won every aspect of play except number of attacks. The Lady Bisons had 109 attacks to the Buckeys’ 95; however, Ohio State finished with a .274 hitting percentage to Lipscomb’s .037. Senior Lauren Ford led the team with 10 kills, and sophomore Kayla Ostrom led with 28 assists. With the loss the Lady Bisons finish their season at 21-9 and the highest RPI ranking in program history, no. 33. The Lady Bisons lose four seniors to graduation in the spring, Lauren Ford, Sophie Kellerman, Megan Stout and Jordan Huston. Jewell Dobson will return for her redshirt season in the fall. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...
by Logan Butts | Dec 2, 2014 | News Slider
By Brianne Welch and Logan Butts Potential rain may have moved Lighting of the Green’s tenth anniversary into Allen Arena, but the night only brought a downpour of festive cheer and a surprise fit for the season. Grant returned to be the evening’s emcee. The lineup consisted of Danny Gokey, Jon Guerra, The Willis Clan, Brother Parker and surprise guest Vince Gill. Outside of the night’s entertainment, Lipscomb University shared that a new scholarship will be created in Grant’s honor. Lipscomb’s presidential spouse Rhonda Lowry was on hand to announce a gift of $50,000 to start the scholarship. During the show, a painting was created and will be auctioned off. The proceeds will go to the scholarship fund. During the show, the Lipscomb Academy and Lipscomb University choruses also performed Christmas songs. Grant performed a number of her Christmas-themed hits throughout the night, including “Emmanuel” and “Tennessee Christmas.” “I’ve always grown up listening to Amy Grant Christmas [music], so it’s kind of a nostalgic thing for me to come and listen to her sing,” attendee Mallory Grady said. Vendors run by local businesses were set up in the arena for anyone in attendance to visit before the show began. Santa and Mrs. Claus were made available for pictures inside of the Hall of Fame room and free hot chocolate and cookies were offered to guests as they arrived to the show. “I just like the whole setup of everything with the booths,” sophomore Kasey Gibson said. “It’s very Christmasy, so I like that.” The night of holiday festivities concluded with the tradition of lighting of Lipscomb’s Christmas tree in the Allen...
by Joe Sanderson | Nov 19, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
With a 3-0 sweep of USC Upstate and 3-1 victory over Kennesaw State University last weekend, the lady Bisons clinched the regular season championship and with it secured the No. 1 seed heading into the Atlantic Sun Tournament. Head coach Brandon Rosenthal knew that something was different with the team this year with heir attitude towards the game and outlook on winning. “Going to Kansas and beating Kansas, going to Missouri and beating Missouri and Illinois State,” Rosenthal said, “It was just one of those years where everybody believed and it was special.” Injuries and illness plagued the team towards the start of the season, but they found a way to fight back and end conference play 13-1. Rosenthal said that it’s not necessarily about the talent but the character. Over a quarter of the team are seniors this year and their leadership was apparent in each and every game they played during the regular season. “We talked at the beginning of the year about leaving a legacy, and that has nothing to do with wins and losses, it has everything to do with who you are,” said Rosenthal. “These girls, led by our seniors have done that.” Rosenthal mentioned when you have a season like theirs you expect to win every match you go into and there’s definitely an expectation of going into the tournament and winning. “I don’t think there’s any surprise for us or for anyone else that we want to do this,” said Rosenthal. “We aren’t going to win every set 25-0, we know they’re going to push us.” The Lady Bisons went 20-7 overall...
by Brianne Welch | Oct 21, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
For the first time since 2011, the Battle of the Boulevard, volleyball edition, returned to Allen Arena. The Lady Bisons defeated the Lady Bruins in three sets Tuesday night. The closest that Belmont came to winning was in the third set, but Lipscomb finished it off winning 25-21. Senior outside hitter Lauren Ford finished off the night with 10 kills. Ford talked about what it means to rekindle the rivalry with Belmont. “The rivalry is huge. It’s awesome coming back on the court and playing again against them,” Ford said. “Some of the younger girls don’t necessarily have that same passion against Belmont, and so it’s fun to kind of teach them that this is how we do it, and this is the way we play against them every time no matter what.” The Lady Bisons took the first set 25-19 and the second 25-17. Junior Brittany Estes led the way for the quick three-and-out game with 13 kills. She was followed by Ford and senior Sophie Kellerman who had eight kills. Sophomore Kayla Ostrom led the team with 32 assists. Belmont is a non-conference opponent, but as far as conference opponents go, the Lady Bisons are undefeated. Prior to the Belmont matchup, they defeated Florida Gulf Coast and Stetson on the road. Lipscomb is now the no. 1 team in conference. The Lady Bisons play Northern Kentucky this weekend, and Ford talked about the importance of winning a midweek match before a conference game. “To have an out of conference game in the middle of season is kind of like a boost,” Ford said. “Every time we’re on...
