NASHVILLE – Charles Dickens said it best, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times". That rang true on Friday night for the Lipscomb University Volleyball team inside Allen Arena. After dropping the first two sets, the Bisons completed the reverse sweep of the Ospreys of the University of North Florida.
Final Score: Lipscomb 3, North Florida 2 (24-26, 25-27, 25-16, 25-22, 15-12)
Location: Allen Arena
Records: Lipscomb (7-8, 3-2), North Florida (7-11, 1-4)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set one saw multiple storylines. It started with Lipscomb at the serve, as they won the first eight points of the opening frame.
Ella Durham got out to a fast start with two kills, while
Berkley Mischler was a part of two blocks to get out to the fast start.
After UNF burned an early timeout,
Kelsey Schenck won back-to-back points at the service line to make it an 8-0 lead.
The Ospreys started to come back, and used a 12-3 run to take a 12-11 lead.
Trailing 19-18, a Durham service ace plus back-to-back kills by
Courtney Jones to take a 20-19 lead.
The Bisons were able to get set point on an Osprey service error, but three straight points by North Florida, including a Kailey McKnight kill to win 26-24 and steal the first set.
Set two was déjà vu all over again for both teams with a 7-0 start thanks to the hand of Schenck.
After UNF burned an early timeout, they were looking to repeat what they did in set one, but the Bisons swelled the lead to 18-11 thanks to six kills by Durham in the set.
The Ospreys trimmed the deficit down to 23-21 on a Kaili Doctor kill, but an
Anna Claire Brown gave the Bisons the side out and set point. Unfortunately, LUV could not finish the set, as UNF won the next three points to force lingering death.
Despite a successful challenge by Lipscomb to tie the set at 25, a Bison attack error and a Kendall Newbold saw the visiting Ospreys steal the second set as well and take a commanding 2-0 lead.
In the third, the Bisons finally got the offense going. After hitting .160 in the first two frames, the home squad came out swinging with 16 kills and two attack errors on 35 swings to take set three, 25-16.
Ahead 15-10 at the media timeout, the Bisons ended the set with a 10-6 run to take the commanding win and force a fourth set.
Set four saw 19 kills in total, seven each from
Courtney Jones and
Berkley Mischler, as the Bisons held off a late rally by the Ospreys to force a deciding fifth set, 25-22.
In the fifth, UNF stormed out to a 3-1 lead, and after the Bisons had a successful challenge with a
Brooklyn Fuchs kill to even the set at three points apiece.
Lipscomb rolled to a 6-3 lead with a Fuchs block. However, the Ospreys cut the deficit to 7-6 before the Bisons burned a timeout.
Later in the set, tied at 12, a Durham kill gave the home squad the ball back for good. Leading 13-12, Mischler slammed down the final two kills to give the Bisons the five-set, reverse sweep win.
QUOTABLE
Hear from
Berkley Mischler and
Brandon Rosenthal after Friday's match.
KEY STATISTICS
Berkley Mischler totaled 11 of her career-high 16 kills in the final two sets, including seven in set four. Finishing with 18 points, she added four total blocks.
Courtney Jones set a new season-high 22 kills and matched a career-high 13 digs for her third double-double of the season.
Ella Durham nearly missed a double-double with 16 kills and nine digs with five blocks.
Kenzie Kucks added 17 digs, while
Brooklyn Fuchs had seven blocks and six kills.
Sophia Hudepohl had her fourth double-double of the year with 54 assists and a season-high 14 digs. The senior secured her 25th career 50-assist performance.
HERD NOTES
The Bisons played their first five-set match of the season, the last ASUN team to play a deciding fifth frame in 2025.
Lipscomb picked up its 30th win over North Florida all-time, as they improved to 30-5 versus the Ospreys and 15 straight inside Allen Arena.
The two teams battled to a fifth set for the first time in the regular season since 2014 and overall since the 2023 ASUN Championship. The Bisons are now 6-0 against the Ospreys when they go the distance.
UP NEXT
The final match of the four-match home stand concludes on Saturday night against ASUN co-leader Jacksonville at 6 p.m.
