ANDERSON, S.C. -- For the second consecutive match, the Lady Railsplitters (10-9, 6-5 SAC) went to five sets, but the result was different this time as Lincoln Memorial dropped a 3-2 decision to the host Anderson Trojans (14-5, 7-4 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action Saturday afternoon in Anderson, S.C. The Trojans rallied for the victory via set scores of 12-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-21 and 15-8.
 
The Lady Railsplitters attacked at a .245 rate with 63 kills and 23 errors on 163 total attempts. Lincoln Memorial accumulated nine service aces, but that was offset by nine service errors and seven reception miscues. The story of the match is revealed in the set-by-set attacking numbers as the Lady Railsplitters hit .394 and .367, respectively, in the first and third frames. LMU was limited to a .237, .214 and -.100 percentage in the three losing efforts.
 
The Trojans had little to no answer for sophomore Brooke Fleeman (Nashville, Tenn.) and junior Jazzy Oates (Franklin, Tenn.). Fleeman compiled 15 kills on a .371 attack percentage while Oates hit .333 with 13 terminations. Freshman Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.) collected 12 kills and 20 digs and graduate student MaRanda Boddie (Springfield, Ohio) added 11 kills on a .368 mark. Sophomore Abby Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) posted the second-most assists of her career with 54 to go alongside four kills and seven digs. Junior Casey Mense (Littleton, Colo.) contributed 27 digs and five service aces, while junior Kendra Gephart (Morrow, Ohio) chimed in with 12 scoops. 
 
The Lady Railsplitters were clicking on all cylinders in the opening set as three kills from Oates and another by Holland paced a 5-0 run that pushed LMU in front 9-4. The Trojans trimmed the deficit to 11-8 with a Kendall Vallancourt kill, but the Lady Railsplitters rebutted with a 7-0 flourish, carried almost entirely by the attacking front. Cash and Oates contributed a single kill while Boddie broke through for three kills over that flurry which extended the Lady Railsplitters' advantage to 18-8. Anderson was never able to get a foothold in the set, scoring only four more points in the final 11 rallies. Fleeman capped LMU's dominant 25-12 victory with a kill. Lincoln Memorial attacked at a .394 clip in that opening frame as five different players registered multiple kills.
 
A pair of Mense service aces helped the Lady Railsplitters take six of the first seven points of set two, but Anderson regrouped and closed the gap to 9-8 with back-to-back kills from Gillespie and Pittman. The Lady Railsplitters jolted back in front 13-8 following a pair of Trojan attack errors and kills by Allison Beavers (Tomball, Texas) and Boddie, but the Trojans ripped off an 11-4 run, paced by three Gillespie kills, to assume a 19-17 lead. Lincoln Memorial tied it at 19-19 with two straight kills before Anderson moved into the driver's seat by earning the point in five of the next seven rallies. Trailing 24-21, the Lady Railsplitters almost forced another stalemate with a Beavers kill and a Gephart service ace, but Gillespie finished off the Trojans' 25-23 win with a termination.
 
The Lady Railsplitters dashed out to another big lead in set three as Fleeman compiled three kills to headline an 11-2 opening run. The Trojans stopped the bleeding and stabilized their standing in the frame with a 5-1 run, capped by an LMU attack error, to close the gap to 12-7. Back-to-back kills by Oates bulged the Lady Railsplitters' cushion back to 14-7. A 4-1 turn at the midway point helped the Trojans clip LMU's lead to 18-14, but the Lady Railsplitters reasserted command at 20-15 on an Anderson service error. Another AU service blunder and a Holland kill finished off the Lady Railsplitters' 25-19 victory in set three.
 
As the match rolled into the fourth frame, the complexion of the contest was completely altered by a rejuvenated Anderson attack. Gillespie continued her offensive assault by piling up three kills in a 10-5 opening run by the Trojans. Three straight kills from Holland and an additional put away by Fleeman knotted the set at 10-10, but Anderson quickly pulsed out to a 20-14 advantage thanks to three kills apiece from Gillespie and Pittman. Trailing 24-15, the Lady Railsplitters ripped off six consecutive points on the wings of three Mense service aces to pull within 24-21 before a ball handling error ended the set and knotted the match at 2-2.
 
The Lady Railsplitters and Trojans met in an 8-8 stalemate midway through the fifth frame, but Lincoln Memorial would be unable to muster a single point in the final seven rallies. A LMU service error and three attack errors, along with three kills by Vallancourt, composed that 7-0 closing run for the Trojans.
 
Anderson hit .206 in the match with 55 total kills, a mark in which Hailey Pittman and Shannon Gillespie were almost entirely responsible. Gillespie led all players with 21 kills, a .328 attack percentage and 10 digs, while tag-team partner Pittman accumulated 19 kills on a .436 attacking clip. Kendall Vallancourt backed that duo with eight put aways. Priscilla Irizarry notched 45 assists and 10 digs, while Alix Hooker paced the Trojans with 21 scoops.
 
The Lady Railsplitters aim to bounce back Tuesday, October 14 with a trip to nearby Greeneville, Tenn. for a South Atlantic Conference clash with the Tusculum Pioneers. Lincoln Memorial will be looking to avenge a five-set loss to the Pioneers back on September 23. That match is scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m.