Friday, December 04, 2009

COLUMBUS, Ohio _ Before this week few, if any, of the members of the California volleyball team had ever heard of the Lipscomb Lady Bisons.

Friday afternoon at 5 CST, Cal, the No. 9 seed, and the Lady Bisons will meet in the first round of the NCAA Tournament here at St. John Arena on the campus of tournament host Ohio State. Cincinnati rounds out the four teams in the tournament. Saturday at 6 CST the winners will play with the winner moving on to Gainesville, Fla.

Lady Bisons coach Brandon Rosenthal thinks that Cal is probably more than a little intrigued by the Lady Bisons who are both the regular season and tournament champions. The Lady Bisons enter the tournament with a 25-match winning streak and a 28-3 record overall, including a 22-0 worksheet against Atlantic Sun Conference foes.

“When you look at it from Cal's standpoint they are playing a team that they have to beat and should beat,” said Rosenthal. “But they also have to be wondering who we are.

“We have won 25 straight matches. I don't care what conference you are in; that's an accomplishment. If it wasn't for our record they would probably be looking past us, but because of our record I think they are going to approach us very differently.”