Volleyball earns three top ASUN awards
Mark McGee | Lipscomb Athletics |
Teams and players come and go, but for Lipscomb volleyball coach Brandon Rosenthal it has always been about the program.
So it is not surprising that Rosenthal deflected attention away from his being named ASUN Conference Coach of the Year for 2016 Wednesday night, Nov. 16, at the tournament banquet at Allen Arena, the site of the ASUN Conference Tournament which begins Thursday, Nov. 17.
Instead he preferred to talk about the awards of his players – Carlyle Nusbaum, ASUN Player of the Year and unanimous First Team All-Conference selection; Kayla Ostrom, ASUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year for volleyball and a member of the All-Academic Team; Second Team All-ASUN selections Taylor Racich, Brittany Thomas and Lauren Anderson; and Morgan Elmore and Maddie Phillips, All-Freshman team members.
Lipscomb and Kennesaw State, both with 12-2 conference records, each received ASUN regular season championship trophies.
It was the second year in a row Ostrom has been named Scholar-Athlete of the Year for volleyball. She was one of two players with a 4.0 on the team. Ostrom majored in Food Systems Management and is completing her first semester in Lipscomb’s MBA program.
It was also her third time to be named to the All-Academic Team. She is only the second player in ASUN history to win the Scholar-Athlete of the Year two years in a row.
This week Nusbaum became the first ever Lipscomb player to earn Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week.
Nusbaum is only the second player in conference history to win five ASUN Player of the Week Awards. She also won ASUN Defensive Player of the Week this season.
She is the fourth player to earn six career ASUN Player of the Week Awards.
This was the third time Rosenthal has been named ASUN Coach of the Year. He also won the award in 2014 and 2009.
Stressing the program over the team has been Rosenthal’s approach from the beginning of his coaching tenure. Rosenthal, who holds an MBA degree from Lipscomb and a theater degree from Pepperdine, has drawn on his educational background as he developed his approach to coaching.
“A lot of it was just building the culture we wanted,” Rosenthal said. “It has never been about a year. It is about the program as a whole.
“My philosophy came 100 percent from my business classes as well as my education in theater. In theater you have actors, directors and stage crew. You have all of these people but more often than not the actors are the ones who get the credit. As an actor when you work backstage you realize it is not just about you.”
Family is at the center of the volleyball program and Rosenthal has watched as his players have formed a bond with teammates who came before them and those who have put on the uniform in later years. They know they have all shared the same challenges and endured the work required to be the best each of them can possibly be.
“From a coaching standpoint it has never been about me,” Rosenthal said. “It is all about them.
Lipscomb, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, plays Friday, Nov. 18, at 5 p.m. in Allen Arena.