Lincoln Memorial University Athletics

NEWBERRY, S.C. -- The Lady Railsplitters (10-8, 6-4 SAC) withstood a gritty effort from the home standing Newberry Wolves (9-10, 3-7 SAC) to escape Eleazer Arena in Newberry, S.C. with a 3-2 triumph in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action Friday evening. Lincoln Memorial was able to capture the five-frame victory with set scores of 24-26, 25-16, 25-21, 23-25 and 15-9.
 
Friday night marked the fourth five-set match for the Lady Railsplitters in 2014 as they improved to an even 2-2 in those affairs. With the win, the Lady Railsplitters avenged a 3-2 loss to the Wolves in the final regular-season meeting of the 2013 campaign, which was held at Mary E. Mars Gymnasium.
 
The Lady Railsplitters posted a .212 attack percentage with 58 kills and 17 errors on a season-high 193 attempts. Lincoln Memorial put the clamps on defensively by accumulating a season-best 94 digs and 18 block assists, limiting the Wolves to only a .121 attack percentage while forcing them into committing 38 errors.
 
Sophomore Brooke Fleeman (Nashville, Tenn.) led all players with 15 kills, compiled on a .295 attacking clip and a season-high 44 attempts. Fleeman chipped in defensively with three block assists. Freshman Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.) contributed 12 kills, 16 digs and three block assists, while junior Jazzy Oates (Franklin, Tenn.) hit .357 in route to a 10 kill, eight dig and five block assist performance. Senior Allison Beavers (Tomball, Texas) chipped in with nine kills and six digs. Junior Casey Mense (Littleton, Colo.) factored in a season-high 30 digs, while Kendra Gephart (Morrow, Ohio) added 12 scoops to the defensive effort. Sophomore Abby Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) posted 47 assists and 12 digs in the win.
 
The Lady Railsplitters found themselves facing an 11-6 deficit in the opening set before rallying to tie the frame at 13-13. Kills by Oates and Fleeman bookended that 7-2 LMU run. The Lady Railsplitters continued to push, assuming a 17-15 advantage following kills by Holland and Fleeman as well as a Newberry attack error. Behind kills in six of the next 10 rallies, the Wolves fought back to regain the lead at 22-20, but an Oates kill and service ace, along with a Beavers kill, put LMU in front 23-22. Newberry took the next two points to assume set point, which the Lady Railsplitters fought off with a kill by Gephart, but an Amanda Soper termination and a ball handling error awarded a 26-24 win to the Wolves in the opening set.
 
Lincoln Memorial bounced back emphatically in set two, running out to a 9-4 lead following another Holland kill. A kill by Holly Brisson and an LMU ball handling miscue cut the Newberry deficit to 11-8, but the Lady Railsplitters ran off four consecutive points to bulge in front 15-9. In similar fashion, the Wolves used kills from Logan Hayward and Soper to pull with four at 17-13 before the Lady Railsplitters essentially iced the victory with another 4-0 run. Three straight kills, one by Cash and two by Oates, completed LMU's 25-16 win.
 
Holland collected four kills over a 9-3 LMU run to open the watershed third set. The Wolves briefly halted that run by trimming the Lady Railsplitters' lead to 10-8, but a Beavers kill and three consecutive Newberry attacking miscues propped LMU to a 14-8 advantage. That lead would not hold, though, as Soper posted four kills while the Lady Railsplitters committed three different errors to help the Wolves tie the set at 19-19. Lincoln Memorial withstood that charge, taking a 22-19 lead on a Gephart kill and two straight Newberry hitting blunders. The Lady Railsplitters kept the Wolves at bay down the stretch, assuming a 2-1 advantage in the match with a 25-21 victory in set three, finished off with a Fleeman kill.
 
Newberry built a 10-6 lead in set four before using four consecutive kills to extend its advantage to 14-8. That large lead proved beneficial down the stretch as the Lady Railsplitters closed to within one point on three separate occasions. The final instance reared its head late in the set as the Lady Railsplitters took advantage of three Newberry attack errors and a ball handling blunder to close the gap to 24-23. But, the Lady Railsplitters were unable to tie the set as Hayward ensured a decisive fifth set with a kill.
 
The Lady Railsplitters never trailed in the fifth frame, taking nine of the first 10 points to assume a commanding 9-1 advantage. Fleeman contributed three kills over that stretch to pace Lincoln Memorial. The Wolves cut it to 9-5 with a brief 4-0 flurry, but LMU was afforded the luxury of trading points for the remainder of the set. Oates and Beavers combined for a block on Jessica King's attack attempt to end LMU's 15-9 match-clinching victory.
 
Amanda Soper paced the Wolves with 12 kills to go alongside 12 digs. Logan Hayward and Jessica King each contributed 11 kills while that duo combined for 10 digs. Alexus Horton tallied 10 kills and a team-leading four block assists. Elayni Stokes and Lauren Prachar led the defensive unit with 29 and 26 digs, respectively. Rachel Moran nearly tallied a triple-double for Newberry with five kills, 34 assists and eight digs.
 
The Lady Railsplitters complete their journey to South Carolina by paying a visit to the Anderson Trojans for a 2 p.m. South Atlantic Conference draw on Saturday.