Friday, August 26, 2011

HOUSTON, Texas -- With a revamped lineup due to injuries earlier in the day, the Lipscomb volleyball team dropped Friday night’s non-conference contest 3-0 to host Houston in the “Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup” at the Athletics/Alumni center in Houston, Texas.

Sophomore Kaycee Green again led the Lady Bisons with 11 kills closely followed by senior Katie Rose’s 10. Sophomore Stephanie Rex made a dozen digs on the night to lead the team. Houston’s Katie Norris paced all hitters with a 12-kill night and a .500 hitting percentage.

“I was really excited how the team did tonight against a physically challenging opponent,” said Lipscomb head coach Brandon Rosenthal. “The energy level was tremendous."

The Lady Bisons (0-2) stormed out of the gate in game one jumping out to a 6-0 lead on the Cougars (1-0). Houston quickly got their feet underneath them however thanks to five errors by Lipscomb and suddenly the game was tied 10-10. Houston then pulled out to a three-point advantage at 16-13, but a Lipscomb run would find the game all square at 19-19. Three errors by the Bisons proved to be the final difference in the contest as Houston pulled away for the 25-23 win.

“The difference in winning and losing is executing down the stretch,” said Rosenthal. “No matter how good the competition is we just have to execute. I’m proud of them. But at the end of day we’ve got to figure out the next step. The first stage in that recognizing we want to move forward.”

Game two of the match saw Lipscomb jump out in front early again with a 3-0 lead to start the set and eventually hold a 21-16 advantage before Houston again mounted a comeback. The Cougars tied the contest at 22-22 and then took two of the last three points thanks to Lipscomb miscues.

“Again we asked the girls every match to move forward and take the next step and it’s a great challenge to face,” Rosenthal said. “Abby really rose to the occasion on the outside. Stephanie Rex played really well and held down the back row and Caitlin Dotson really ran a great offense, making the most of a good opportunity. I’m also really proud of Megan Stout who stepped into the game at a crucial point and laid it all on the line.”

With Lipscomb having played five tightly contested sets on the day, game three of the match saw Houston jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead only to see the Lady Bisons to pull within back within two at 7-5. From that point on the Cougars took control and raced away to the 25-14 sweep.

The Cougars outhit the Lady Bisons .395 to .139 on the night.

Lipscomb concludes action in the “Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup” on Saturday with a 2 p.m. tilt against Central Arkansas