Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - The match-up between the two top teams in the Atlantic Sun was everything fans could have hoped for and then some, as the match took five nail-biting sets to decide. Belmont (13-7, 4-1) won sets one and three while Lipscomb (11-6, 5-0) took sets two and four. Ultimately, the Lady Bisons prevailed, winning the fifth set 13-15 to secure the win.
The first installment of 2011's Battle of the Boulevard rivalry game was billed as a heavyweight title fight with more than bragging rights on the line. Both Belmont and Lipscomb entered the match with perfect 4-0 records in conference play and riding winning streaks. They are the winningest programs in Atlantic Sun history and the only teams to win multiple conference championships. Both teams hold the top spots in nearly all conference statistical categories, often ranked first and second respectively. As close as the two teams were statistically coming into tonight's match, that the match came down to a deciding fifth set is not surprising. The two teams alternated set wins, with Belmont taking sets one and two by an identical 25-20 score. Lipscomb responded each time, winning set two 23-25 and set four 13-25.
"Two teams worked very hard tonight," Head Coach Deane Webb said. "I think a great amount of effort was given by both teams, a great amount of energy and emotion was put into the match. Bottom line, their team was better in transition. We were pretty even in serve receive and swings, but they were clearly better in transition. They did a great job of working hard after a ball was defended to transition back and strike. Obviously, as a team, just defending and serve receiving in such a way that allowed them to get 70 plus swings by their middles, that's just a tremendous job by their back row to give them that many opportunities."
Belmont got 21 kills from senior Maggie Johnson who once again led the Bruins in kills, scoring five crucial kills in the deciding set. Sophomore Jen Myer added 12 kills and 14 digs, while setter Hannah Miranda finished with 44 assists.
"I think there were certainly some of the better players in the conference in the match tonight," Webb said. "Right now, Katie Rose was in a class by herself. You hit .475 with 20 kills and still get 19 digs…she had more digs than anybody on either team except for our libero. For someone who, for three rotations doesn't really drop into defense and is busy blocking, to get that many digs, that's just outstanding. I just have tremendous respect for her as a player, throughout her career to play different positions and play them well, transform herself into a better athlete…I just think very, very highly of that young lady."
Libero Jamie Lundstrom led both teams with 28 digs on the night. Myer added 14 digs while Miranda finished with 10.
"She had a tremendous match," Webb said of Lundstrom's play. "That wasn't a good or a great match, that was a tremendous and outstanding job by Jamie on defense. She is becoming the player we dreamed she would be. It's exciting to watch someone this early in her career as a sophomore becoming a great, great player. We look forward to her continued work and improvement. She will, before very long, be just as good on serve receive as she is on defense and when she does that, she'll be in a class by herself. There just aren't too many kids who can do what she does."
The Bruins out-hit Lipscomb, finishing with a .240 hitting percentage, but the Lady Bisons recorded 71 kills to Belmont's 53, a deficit that was ultimately too much for the Bruins to overcome. Belmont continued to battle back in the deciding set to keep pressure on Lipscomb, but the experience of the Lady Bisons helped them prevail.
"It was interesting in that they had more kills and generated a tremendous number of more swings than we did, but we were just more efficient early on," Webb said. "As the match went on, we made too many errors clearly in game four and game five. We had six errors in the first three games and then had 10 in the last two, so we got away from what we do. We know we're not maybe the most athletic ball striking team and we have to pick and choose our spots to be aggressive. We did that in the first three games. At that point we may changed a little bit what we were doing offensively and it didn't help us."
The Bruins will travel to Jacksonville for matches against North Florida and Jacksonville next weekend as they continue conference play. The loss snapped a seven match win streak for the Bruins, who had won 11 of their last 12 matches coming into the match against Lipscomb. The two teams will meet again in just a few short weeks, when Belmont welcomes Lipscomb to the Curb Event Center for a 6:30 p.m. match on Tuesday, Oct. 25th. With the win, Lipscomb takes a one match lead over Belmont in the conference standings.
"We enjoying being at home, we enjoy not traveling, but that is a part of college sports," Webb said. "That is an easier trip in terms that we fly but we stay in one city, so that's nice. We know that Jacksonville is always among the leaders (in the conference), and North Florida is athletic enough and they've got some new players there and from what we've seen, they've done a good job. We expect to have to play at a high level to win and we'll try in this next week to work to improve. It's not about any one opponent, whether its Jacksonville or North Florida or Lipscomb, it's about we just want to get better every day and as long as we do that, the results will take care of themselves."
