by Erika Plunkett | Apr 5, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
After winning a five-set thriller against FGCU in the ASUN tournament final on Saturday night, the Lady Bisons clinched a spot in the NCAA tournament. Sunday afternoon, ESPNU hosted the selection show that announced Lipscomb would travel to play No. 23 Georgia Tech on April 14th in the first round of the tournament. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lipscomb Volleyball (@lipscombvball) In three previous matchups, Lipscomb is 0-2 against the Yellow Jackets. This will be their first meeting since 2019. This is the Lady Bisons’ eighth tournament appearance and first since 2016. Due to the pandemic, not only the timing of the tournament, but also the format of the tournament is different. Instead of the usual 64 teams, only 48 teams will be going to the big dance and the entirety of the tournament will be played in Omaha, Nebraska. This first-round game will be played at 6 PM CT on April 14th. Graphic courtesy of Lipscomb...
by Spencer Boehme | Apr 4, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
On Saturday night, Lipscomb’s four seniors were just two consecutive FGCU points away from never seeing the NCAA tournament in their college careers. In the fifth set, FGCU’s Erin Shomaker gave the Eagles a 14-13 lead to set up match point. All the Eagles had to do was collect the next point, and that would have been ballgame. But then three of the Bisons’ seniors aided in a 3-0 run that ultimately gave the Bisons the win Saturday evening. Senior hitter Megan Kuper tied the game on kill, and senior blocker Sami Rubal assisted with a block after that. And then it was senior defensive specialist Ashley Maher who set the ball up for junior hitter Garret Joiner, who rocketed it past FGCU libero Dana Axner near the back endline for the game-winner. The ASUN named Rubal the tournament MVP, and Dilfer and senior libero Alyssa Zwolensky received All-Tournament team honors. It will be the eighth NCAA tournament appearance in Lipscomb history, all of which have come under 18-year head coach Brandon Rosenthal. Lipscomb first advanced to the tourney in 2007. The Bisons have won the ASUN championship seven times (they received an at-large bid in 2014). ESPNU will air the selection show at 3 p.m. CT. The Division I volleyball tournament will be played in Omaha, Nebraska. Rubal and Kuper led the way with 14 and 13 kills for Lipscomb, while Joiner followed up with 12. Freshman Delaney Dilfer once again had an impeccable evening setting the ball, as she accounted for 50 assists after garnering 53 the night before. For FGCU, the sophomore hitter Shomaker wreaked havoc...
by Spencer Boehme | Mar 28, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
Bellarmine’s volleyball program has talent. But it doesn’t hide the fact that it just joined Division I, and a Lipscomb squad that’s only lost two games all year wasn’t about to get upset on its home court Saturday night. Lipscomb (15-2, No. 1 ASUN North) played host to a Bellarmine team (4-13, No. 4 ASUN North) that posed some challenges. But the Bisons ultimately enjoyed set victories of 25-19, 25-18 and 25-16 and will play North Florida on Friday. Lipscomb dialed in a .361 hitting percentage, while the Knights only rang in a .176 mark. Bison seniors Megan Kuper and Sami Rubal combined for 26 kills on the night, with Rubal’s .667 hitting percentage leading both teams. Freshman Delaney Dilfer’s 40 assists paced Lipscomb. Bellarmine has a talented sophomore blocker in Hannah Brown, as her 14 kills and .423 hitting percentage caused the Bisons some headaches. Junior Sam Rickert assisted 30 times as well. Bellarmine led 3-1 and later tied at 10-10 in the first frame, setting up for what seemed to be a good game. But that’s what outmatched teams often do — the Bisons slowly widened the gap to 22-17 before the Knights had to call a timeout. Lipscomb won the first set 25-19. The Knights kept the second set close and were down 14-16 off a service error from Megan Kuper, but a 4-0 Lipscomb run put the frame out of reach and ultimately led to the 25-18 win. Lipscomb led the final set 24-13, and Bellarmine made a last-gasp effort with a 3-0 run before Lanie Wagner sent the ball to the right side of the court to...
by Micah Kennedy | Mar 13, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
The Lady Bisons took the first of back-to-back games against Kennesaw State in a dominating 3-0 sweep. Coming into the game, the Owls were undefeated with 10 wins, all in the ASUN. The Lady Bisons went into the game with 10-2 record, 7-1 record in the conference. The top two teams in the conference came out with speed and aggressiveness. They traded blows, but Lipscomb took an early lead 9-4 benefitting from two Samantha Rubal kills. The Owls upped the defensive intensity with a few consecutive blocks to cut it to 9-7. Lipscomb held the lead till the late part of the set until the teams found themselves tied at 23. Kennesaw State players Claire Parsons and Dani Ballou both scored two kills leading to the tie game. The set ended with a 25-23 score in the Lady Bisons favor after a Kamryn Bacus kill and a double touch on the Owls. In contrast, the second set was all Lipscomb from the first serve. The Lady Bisons started with a 4-0 burst including a Garrett Joiner kill and Megan Kuper ace. Throughout the set, the Lady Bisons’ offense was very effective, and the Owls struggled with errors. The Lady Bisons led by as many as 11 in this set and led by a score of 21-10 at one point, finishing the set in a dominant fashion by a score of 25-13. The biggest separating factor after two sets was hitting percentage, with the Lady Bisons at .273 and the Owls only at a .074 clip. After losing two sets for just the second time this...
by Erika Plunkett | Feb 23, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
After having their weekend series postponed, Lipscomb Volleyball was finally able to play their second conference opponent of the season, the UNA Lions, in the first game of their two-game series, where Lipscomb won 3-0. Due to delaying these games, the second game of the series will be played in Florence, AL Tuesday night. Lipscomb started and finished hot Monday night winning both the first and third sets by commanding margins of 12 and 13 points, however, in the second set, the Lions kept it close falling only by 3 points, 22-25. The Bisons are now 3-0 in conference play after sweeping Liberty on the road two weekends ago and 6-1 overall. The Bisons currently sit in second place in the ASUN behind Kennesaw State, who is 6-0 in conference play this season. Leading the way for the Bisons in kills were outside hitters freshman Kamryn Bacus with 15 and senior Megan Kuper with 13, and assisting them were freshman setters Brooke Phillips with 22 and Delaney Dilfer with 17. For the Lions, freshman Kamryn Parsonage led UNA in kills with 7. Lipscomb hopes to stay on their hot streak as their busy schedule continues. This week alone the Bisons still play three more games finishing off this first two-game series with North Alabama and then another two-game series against Bellarmine at home before returning to Florence next week for the second two-game series against the Lions. This new scheduling format is due to the ASUN conference dividing into a North and a South division to minimize contact and travel due to COVID-19. With this loss, North Alabama stays...
