FORT MYERS, FL. - No. 2 seed Lipscomb Volleyball took on No. 6 seed North Florida in the ASUN Championship Semifinal Friday afternoon in Alico Arena for a spot in the tournament final Saturday night. After winning the first set comfortably, North Florida controlled the following two sets, putting the Bisons' on the ropes. Lipscomb even trailed in the fourth set 9-0, but fought back to win the frame 27-25, and then took the deciding set to win 3-2 and advance to the ASUN Championship Final with set scores of 25-18, 20-25, 16-25, 27-25, and 15-9.
The Bisons were led offensively by sophomore outside hitter Courtney Jones, who logged 15 kills, followed by senior middle blocker Meg Mersman with 13 in the outing. Berkley Mischler and Jada DiVita added nine kills, while Caroline Stogner ended with eight against the Osprey Friday.
It was a collective effort for the Bisons on the defensive end. Delaney Smith led the charge with 12 digs, followed by Sophia Hudepohl who dug 11 balls. Jones and Libby Steinhart also added nine and eight respectively.
LUV hit .206 with 63 kills compared to just 43 by the Ospreys. They also added 65 assists, 58 of which came from ASUN Setter of the Year Hudepohl. Lipscomb also added 13 total blocks and nine service aces on the afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
UNF took an early 6-2 lead in set one. The Bisons battled back from their first frame hole to tie things at 9-all, capped off with a kill from Mischler. Bisons would eventually settled in, took an 18-14 advantage, and would control the rest of the set, winning 25-18. Lipscomb hit .484 in the frame with 17 kills and just two attack errors, led by Jones and Mersman, who each logged five kills.
The second frame was a back-and-forth affair to start, but a sequence including a kill by DiVita, a block by DiVita and Mischler, and an ace from Miranda gave the Bisons a 16-11 advantage. North Florida flipped the momentum in their direction quickly, starting with a seven point swing that gave the them an 18-16 lead. Mischler stopped the bleeding momentarily with a kill to keep her team within a point, but North Florida closed the frame out to win 25-20 and level the set total.
North Florida carried their momentum into the following set, logging the first three points of the third. Lipscomb worked back within a point backed by an ace from Connelly Renfrow, but the Bisons had no answer for a hot UNF bunch that closed out the final set with five straight points to win 25-16.
UNF scored the first nine points in set four, making matters difficult for the Bisons in a win-or-go-home scenario, but Coach Rosenthal's bunch never wavered. The Bisons began slowly work themselves back into contention, and mount an impressive comeback when they needed it the most and tied things at 15-all. A true team effort helped the Bisons battle to take a two-point lead, but the Osprey didn't go away quietly. A four-point run gave the Osprey a two-point lead at 22-20, but Lipscomb managed to edge out the UNF to win 27-25. Caroline Stogner made some big plays en route to a five kill set on seven attempts to help extend the Bisons' season.
UNF took another early lead, up 3-1 to start the fifth set, but kills by Stogner and Mersman, along with a block from the Hudepohl-Mersman tandem, brought the score back level. After a point by the Osprey, the Bisons rallied for four straight to take an 8-4 lead. From there, Lipscomb took control, and would go on to score five of the last six points, capped off by a service ace from the ASUN career ace leader herself, Delaney Smith, to win 15-9 and move on to the conference final in thrilling fashion.
Up Next:
Lipscomb will battle No. 1 seed FGCU for the ASUN title and a NCAA Tournament bid on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. CT. For more coverage of Lipscomb Volleyball, follow LUV on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram @lipscombvball.
