Volleyball vs. Lipscomb at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, August 30, 2022.
Photo by Sam Simpkins

Lipscomb Lips 2-1,0-0 ASUN

Belmont BEL 1-3,0-0 MVC

Lipscomb Lips

2-1,0-0 ASUN

Final

Aug. 30, 2022

Belmont BEL

1-3,0-0 MVC

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Lipscomb Lips	22	25	25	25	(3)
Belmont BEL	25	17	14	23	(1)

Game Recap: Volleyball | 8/30/2022 10:51:00 PM

Volleyball Falls in Home Opener

Bruins Win Opening Set of Battle of the Boulevard, But Lose 3-1

Photo Gallery

Next Match:

at Washington State

9/2/2022 | 2:30 PM

WSU Live Stream

Next Match

Full Schedule

Sep. 02 (Fri) / 2:30 PM

at Washington State

History

Recap
Roster

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Belmont University volleyball team started strong in their home opener against rival Lipscomb, but despite taking the opening set, the Bruins fell, 3-1, to the Bisons in Tuesday night's Battle of the Boulevard at the Curb Event Center.

Laura Shoopman led the Bruins with 12 kills, and Kristen Clemons added 11, but Lipscomb dominated from the service line, collecting ten aces and consistently putting Belmont out of system.

Belmont (1-3, 0-0 MVC) won the first set 25-22, but Lipscomb (2-1, 0-0 ASUN) would take the next three games for the four-set victory, 17-25, 14-25, 23-25.

With a 22-21 lead in the fourth set, the Bruins appeared to be positioned to force a decisive game five, but the Bisons won four of the next five points to end the match and hand the visitors their ninth straight win the series.

"Obviously I think there's a lot that we can go back and watch on film and make some changes," head coach Katelyn Harrison said. "I think that Lipscomb came in with a really strong game plan and we didn't make our changes like we should have. This weekend, our opponents are going to watch that match and target that so we've got to come in and be able to defend down the line better on the right side attacker, and just use tomorrow to learn from what cost us today."

Lipscomb outhit Belmont .277 to .200 and collected 58 kills to the Bruins' 43.

With an announced crowd of 504 looking on, Belmont started strong in the first set, jumping out to a 9-3 lead to force a Lipscomb timeout. Later, kills from Shoopman and Brooke Gilleland stretched the advantage to 15-9.

The Bisons battled back and tied things at 21-21 after a pair of service aces. Coming out of a quick Belmont timeout, the Bruins got kills from Shoopman, Clemons, and Gilleland before Sydney Willis shut the door at set point with a rolling attack that was buried down the right line.

Set 1? SETTLED??#ItsBruinTime pic.twitter.com/mbGDNuuAT1
— Belmont Volleyball (@BelmontVB) August 30, 2022

In the second set, Lipscomb never trailed and hit .312, holding Belmont at arm's length. The Bruins cut it to a 15-12 deficit after a Willis kill, but the Bisons would control from there and took the set, 25-17.

The third frame started neck-and-neck, with Belmont getting contributions from Clemons and Shoopman, along with an ace from Elizabeth Godfrey, to keep Belmont in the mix and even take a 12-11 lead following a Lauren Walsh kill.

However, the Bisons ripped off a 14-2 run and hit .412 for the frame, coasting to a 25-14 victory that allowed them to go up 2-1 in sets.

Showing great poise in shaking off the result, Belmont came out in the fourth game swinging, taking the first two points on a Gilleland kill and an Ally Peterson block. A few minutes later, back-to-back kills from Clemons put Belmont in the driver's seat with a 6-2 lead.

Lipscomb roared back and, aided by three blocks, took a 13-11 advantage. After several engaging rallies, Peyton O'Brien forced another Bison timeout with a block to give the Bruins an 18-16 lead.

A Willis kill tied things at 21-21, but the Bisons won four of the next five points to clinch the win, 25-23.

Final Word

"I was definitely encouraged by the response in the fourth set. It comes down to consistency, and I think for us sometimes we've got to want the ball a little bit more at the end of games. We had it, we had the lead going into the last couple points, and ultimately, they handled that pressure a little bit better than us. But I'm still really proud of the team—games two and three, you look at the stats and they were pretty bad, and definitely not representative of what we did in game one—so I'm glad how we ended. Obviously I wish the score had been different and we'd been able to throw it to five sets, but again, the fight in game four showed we can come out and make changes when we want to." -- head coach Katelyn Harrison

Up Next

Belmont will make their longest trip since 2016 when they fly to Pullman, Wash., this weekend for the Cougar Challenge, hosted by Washington State. The Bruins will face the hosting Cougars on Friday afternoon before facing California Baptist later in the day and wrapping up the weekend against CSU Bakersfield on Saturday.

Follow Belmont volleyball on social media - @BelmontVB on Twitter and @belmontvball on Instagram - for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.

#ItsBruinTime

Print Friendly Version