FORT MYERS, FLA. - No. 2 seed Lipscomb Volleyball (20-7, 14-2 ASUN) began their quest for an ASUN Championship Thursday in Fort Myers as they went to battle with the No. 7 seed Stetson (13-18, 8-8 ASUN) inside Alico Arena. Lipscomb won the first and only meeting of the season, turning the tide after an opening set loss to get a 3-1 win in mid-October. This go around, the Bisons had to fight for five set win in their first tournament match with set scores of 23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 21-25, and 15-10. 

ASUN Player of the Year Meg Mersman led the charge for the Bisons with a career-high 23 kills on 52 attempts with only four errors and a .365 hitting percentage. Courtney Jones and Jada DiVita each logged 17 kills against the Hatters, followed by Addi Pelham, who rounded out the double-figure kill leaders with 11 against the Hatters. Brooklyn Fuchs provided stepped up in her first start of the year, ending with a four kill and five block assist performance.

ASUN Setter of the Year Sophia Hudepohl logged a career-high 68 assists with another double-double, adding 14 digs to her stat line. Delaney Smith led the Bisons' defensive effort with 28 digs, followed by Hudepohl and then Libby Steinhart dug 12 balls in the effort. 

LUV hit .258 on the day as a team, with 75 total kills on Thursday. The Bisons also out dug the Hatters 85-80 and won the battle at the net with ten blocks compared to nine from Stetson.

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

The opening frame set the tone for the day's entertaining second match. The set was tight early, but a three-point run for Stetson gave the Hatters a 14-10 edge. Lipscomb battled back to level the score at 21-all but couldn't mount a comeback as they'd fall 25-23 in the opening frame.

Set two was another tightly contested one, but it was the Bisons that began to separate themselves in the middle of the frame. A four-point swing gave the Bisons a 23-17 advantage and helped seal the deal in a bounce-back set two win to level the set scores a one a piece. In the frame, the Bisons swung at a .295 clip with 19 kills, a match high. 

Stetson took an early 4-1 lead in the third set, but Bisons climbed back to level at 5-all. The next several points went back and forth until the Bisons rallied for four straight to take an 18-14 lead. Stetson stayed in the fight, and even the score at 21 and against a 23, but Lipscomb recorded the final two points on kills from Mersman and DiVita to win 25-23. The Bisons up there hitting percentage again, hitting .302 in the set with 17 kills. Courtney Jones came on for the Bisons with six kills individually.

Stetson rallied off five straight to take a 16-13 lead in the fourth set. Neither team could get past earning more than a three-point lead in the set as each team traded short runs. Ultimately, the hill was too big to climb for the Bisons in the period as the Hatters worked for two separate four-point leads down the stretch. The set result forced a fifth and deciding set, as Stetson won set four 25-21. Stetson hit .281 in the frame compared to a .256 clip by the Bisons.

In the fifth set, Lipscomb separated themselves with critical plays down the stretch from names like Cora ter Kuile, Brooklyn Fuchs, and Delaney Smith. With an 8-7 score, ter Kuile and Fuchs teamed up for a block to extend the Bisons' lead to two points. The ASUN career ace leader herself, Delaney Smith, followed with a service ace, and then an attack error by Stetson gave Lipscomb an 11-7 advantage. Another three-point swing a few points later, gave the Bisons match points, which they only needed two chances to win, resulting in a 15-10 deciding set final. The Bisons hit .280 with eight kills compared to a .107 hitting percentage by the Hatters in the fifth. The Hatter also had six attack errors while the Bisons managed to have just one.  

BRANDON ROSENTHAL POSTGAME:

Up Next:
Lipscomb will battle North Florida in the ASUN Championship Semifinal tomorrow at 3 p.m. CT in Fort Myers, Florida. The match will be aired on ESPN+. For more coverage of Lipscomb Volleyball, follow LUV on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram @lipscombvball.