Tuesday, September 13, 2011

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After a strong showing in last weekend’s “Golden Dome Invitational” hosted by Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., the Lipscomb volleyball team returns to action at Allen Arena Wednesday night against Austin Peay at 6:30 p.m.

“This is a traditional midweek match that we’ve had for years,” said Lipscomb head coach Brandon Rosenthal.  It’s been a great battle ever since I’ve been here and one that we look forward too.  Austin Peay is the current OVC (Ohio Valley Conference) champion and is one of the team’s that is always in the mix.

Lipscomb finished off the weekend 2-1 with solid wins over Valparaiso and Portland after dropping a match to host Notre Dame on Friday night.  Senior middle blocker Katie Rose and classmate Abby Fay earned All-Tournament honors for their play on the court.

“Coming off this past weekend I thought our team came together well and I’m really looking forward to getting another opportunity to see them play again,” said Rosenthal.  “As a young team starts to gel you’re looking for more and more opportunities to keep that thing (whatever it is) going.  It should be a good opportunity for us at home in front of our home crowd which has been tremendous the past four matches here.  I’m really excited about this match and another chance for our freshmen to get more game time.”

The Opponent:
Austin Peay enters Wednesday night’s contest 2-7 on the season with wins over ETSU and Alabama but the Lady Govs, like Lipscomb, have faced some stout competition thus far in this year’s campaign.  Nikki Doyle leads Austin Peay with 118 kills almost twice that of any other teammate.  Bill Egbert is in his first season with Austin Peay having spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Mississippi.

Wednesday night’s contest against the Lady Govs is “70’s Night” and features retro costumes and music throughout the match.