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Renfrow
1
Lipscomb Lips 6-10,3-2 ASUN
3
Winner FGCU FGCU 12-4,2-1 ASUN
Lipscomb Lips
6-10,3-2 ASUN
1
Final
3
FGCU FGCU
12-4,2-1 ASUN
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Lipscomb Lips 25 16 15 22 (1)
FGCU FGCU 21 25 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Volleyball Falls in Four to Eagles

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Lipscomb volleyball took to the court in Eckerd College's McArthur Center to face of with the FGCU Eagles on Friday night. After winning the first set decisively, the Bisons dropped the next three sets and the Eagles took the match with set scores of 21-15, 25-16, 25-15, and 25-22.
 
The loss is the second conference loss of the season for the squad, putting the Bisons at 6-10 overall and 3-2 in conference play. The Eagles move on with a 12-4 overall record and 2-1 in league play.
 
Junior Caroline Stogner led Lipscomb's offense with 13 kills, five digs, and an ace. This match marks the ninth in which Stogner has put down double-digit kills.
 
Courtney Jones and Addi Pelham joined Stogner in double-digit kills as Jones put down 12 and Pelham hammered home 11 kills towards the Bisons' final scores.
 
Freshman setter Sophia Hudepohl dished out 42 of Lipscomb's 48 assists in the contest, the eighth match in which the Mason, Ohio native has logged at least 30 assists.
 
The Purple and Gold pulled together for their defensive efforts, collecting seven total blocks and 43 digs. Four Bisons scooped up five or more digs, junior libero Delaney Smith led the way with 13 digs from middle back.
 
Sophomore defensive specialist Libby Steinhart produced for the Bisons from the serving line, leading the Bisons and the match with a season-high four service aces.
 
The Bisons will head to DeLand, Fla. for a showdown with the Stetson Hatters on Sunday, Oct. 9 at 11 a.m. CT.
 
FROM THE BENCH – HC Brandon Rosenthal
"I thought tonight was a classic matchup of two good teams. I really like how we made some changes in the middle of set one. I thought we had put ourselves in a position where we were just making too many errors and I was really impressed with how we responded to finish out set one and to add that pressure to Florida Gulf Coast. In set two, we were, again, kind of neck and neck midway through and, unfortunately, went three or four points down where I would like to see us fight a little harder at the end of the set.

Ultimately, I thought we came out in set three with a little bit different mindset. Being tied at one set each is an opportunity and, unfortunately, for us, a little more than midway through they made a couple runs and we didn't have much of a response. So, going down one set to two and then moving to the fourth, we again made some strategic changes, and I thought our girls responded extremely well.

It's been a little bit of what we've dealt with all year. I think we do a fantastic job of getting to point 20 and we've got to be a little bit better in executing after point 20. So, there we were at 20-18 and we just made a couple mistakes and then we're at 20-20 and we have to call a timeout.

I think, overall, that I liked the game as a whole. I think [FGCU outside hitter Erin] Shomaker is a heck of a player, you know, a Player of the Year type of candidate and I thought that we didn't do enough to slow her down early. I thought our serve kind of went in waves and at the end of set one, we did a really nice job of adding pressure there. I also think that some of our service errors, at times, kept us from being able to apply as much pressure as I thought we could.

FGCU is an experienced team with a couple of fifth-year players and you can see that experience, especially late in sets. So, while we're still trying to put all those pieces together, I love the tenacity and overall play of our girls.

I think we've got to clean up the key moments and that's on us as a coaching staff – it's on me – and that's our number one point of emphasis right now. So, I think when you're getting into these situations especially, that in a year you're going to see a ton of parity and you can't lose sight of what it's going to be like at the end.

I'm proud of the girls. I think that midway through set one they made some great changes. I think being down one set to two they made some great changes and we're asking, "How do we put that all together?" So, we won't stop. This group is tenacious and resilient and I have no doubt that these are the lessons that we will continue to build off of and get better.

We continue to see week in and week out that the improvements are there, and I have great confidence in the fact that those improvements will all add up to victories soon. I think, for us, we talk about opportunities and what we're doing with them.

So, it is a tough one to lose, but it's also an opportunity to get better. I can't say enough about who this group is and it can be really easy to look at wins and losses and get lost in that. For me, it's about being able to take steps forward and I'm a firm believer in that. I also know that I'm a firm believer in this group and so, while it didn't work out, credit has to go to Florida Gulf Coast. They found ways to execute at key moments and that's good coaching, its good players, and its good execution.  All of that is same thing on our side, we just have to be better at it.

I think in the end, I believe in what we're doing. The message is constant that we will find a way. I have no doubt that this group wants it, and that's important at the end of the day."
 
SET 1
  • The Bisons took three of the first five points of the match with a pair of kills from Stogner and the third from Pelham to make it 3-2.
  • FGCU pulled themselves back in the lead and went on a 6-2 run that was extended by Bison errors until the Eagles led 13-8.
  • Back-to-back kills from Berkley Mischler and Addi Pelham were followed by a pair of aces from Delaney Smith brought the Bisons within one point.
  • A 7-2 run featuring a trio of Meg Mersman kills and another pair of back-to-back kills from Stogner pushed Lipscomb to a 20-17 lead.
  • The Bisons' youngsters closed out the match as Mischler tallied a pair of kills and a solo block while Courtney Jones added two kills of her own to secure Lipscomb's 25-21 win.
   
SET 2
  • The two squads fought for momentum throughout the second set and the teams tied it up at 2-2, 3-3, 5-5, 7-7, 8-8, 9-9, 10-10, 11-11, 12-12, and 15-15 before the Eagles began to pull away.
  • FGCU's offense drove the set with three Bisons working to bring the squad back into play as Jones, Pelham, and Stogner pulled down four kills, two kills, and two kills respectively.  
  • Steinhart grabbed her second ace of the match in the early points of the set and give the Bisons a 7-5 lead.
  • The Eagles took off from the 15-15 tie on a 10-1 run and finalized their 25-16 set two win on an ace.
   
SET 3
  • The battle continued as the third set began as a pair of kills from Caroline Stogner brought the Bisons into the match to tie it up early at 2-2.
  • After the Eagles grabbed three points, the Bisons came back with a Pelham kill and a Mersman-Pelham block to take the lead back at 6-5.
  • FGCU fought back and went on an 8-3 run that pushed the score into a 13-9 deficit in favor of the Eagles.
  • Stogner and Pelham each put down another kill and Stogner served up an ace to bring the score to 15-12 for FGCU.
  • Kills from Pelham and Jones sought to break up FGCU's stride, but the Eagles claimed set thee 25-15.
   
SET 4
  • The tension kept up in the fourth frame and the lead changed hands eight times thanks to an impressive offense from the Bisons.
  • Meg Mersman set the pace early in the set with a kill and two block assists with Sophia Hudepohl for a 4-3 Lipscomb lead.
  • Pelham tallied four kills and a block assist for the set. She capitalized on a FGCU service error and put down her eleventh kill and the block assist back-to-back to bring the Bisons into the lead 17-16.
  • Steinhart added her third and fourth aces of the set to keep Lipscomb in the lead as the scores crept higher.
  • The Eagles took advantage of a few Bison errors and put down a pair of service aces of their own to take the lead back at 23-21.
  • Courtney Jones kept the Lipscomb in the match after FGCU's first set point with a big kill from the outside, but the Eagles responded with a kill of their own to cement their victory.

 
HERD NOTES
  • The Bisons out-swung the Eagles in the first and fourth sets – logging hitting percentages of .341 to .323 and 0.36 to 0.16.
  • Lipscomb totaled 48 kills with a .175 overall hitting percentage while FGCU tallied 50 kills and a .298 hitting percentage.
  • The Bisons offense was just two kills behind the Eagles' offense, and Sophia Hudepohl demonstrated how to spread out an offense as three of her hitters logged at least ten kills and two more had at least five.
  • Addi Pelham led the Bisons in offensive effectiveness with a .375 hitting percentage, making this the sixth match in which she's hit .300 or higher
  • Libby Steinhart's eight digs make her eighth match this season to collect five or more digs.
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