Volleyball sweeps Middle Tennessee in season opener

Friday, January 22

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

6:00 PM

Lipscomb University

1-0,0-0ASUN

Middle Tennessee State

-01,00 CUSA

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Lipscomb	25	26	25	3
Middle Tenn.	17	11	17	0

Volleyball sweeps Middle Tennessee in season opener

1/22/2021 9:29:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Mark McGee

MURFREESBORO, TENN. – It was almost surreal. In his 20th year as the volleyball coach at Lipscomb Brandon Rosenthal struggled to find the words to describe the feeling.

"When we made the first serve it was like we are really here," Rosenthal said. "We finally were playing a game against an opponent."

After 430 days his Bisons were finally back on the court against an opponent Friday night with a sweep of Middle Tennessee State from Conference-USA at Alumni Memorial Gym by scores of 25-17, 25-11 and 25-17. The two teams will meet again Sunday at Allen Arena for a 1 p.m. match.

It was a day of uncertainty on many levels for the Bisons. What would the COVID-19 test results be? How would his players respond after such a long lay-off? Would they be as strong and competitive as they had been in practice?

It was a night when the answers, with rare exceptions, were positive.

"I was just happy we were playing," Rosenthal said. "A lot of our friends in Division I aren't playing."

The match started out slow for the Bisons with MTSU opening set one with a 9-4 lead and maintaining the advantage until an attack error by MTSU tied the game at 11-11. A kill by Megan Kuper gave the Bisons a 13-12 lead and control of the set.

"You could just see the nerves in the first set," Rosenthal said. "The timeout (at 9-4) was to say let's settle in. We were trying to do too much, and our serves were too easy. We made an adjustment and after that it was pressure, pressure. Pressure."

Set two also opened with MTSU leading 3-2 after scoring the first two points. A kill by Lanie Wagner gave the Bisons a 4-3 lead and they never looked back.

It was more of the same in the final set as MTSU scored the first three points. They would lead until a kill by Kuper tied the set at 5-5. Kuper would strike again for a 6-5 lead. MTSU would not challenge again.

Kuper, Meg Mersman and Wagner each made 10 kills to lead the way. Samantha Rubal added eight and Logan Gish finished with seven.

Freshman setter Delaney Dilfer made her first collegiate start with 43 of the Bisons 45 assists. Rosenthal praised her efforts in helping the Bisons make 48 kills compared to 25 by MTSU.

Rosenthal's plan was for the Bisons to not only win but dominate the match. He was confident they reached their goal.

"I am pretty confident in our ability," Rosenthal said. "I am confident that I know what this group is capable of. We never took our foot off the gas."

Hear what @RosenthalLUV had to say after tonight's season-opening win over Middle Tennessee on the road.#HornsUp??https://t.co/FuVEnpe8XK
— Lipscomb Volleyball (@LipscombVBall) January 23, 2021