HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The Lady Railsplitters (10-9, 6-5 SAC) begin the second round of South Atlantic Conference play Tuesday with a trip to Greeneville, Tenn. for a battle against in-state rival Tusculum (10-9, 9-2 SAC). The 59th all-time meeting between Lincoln Memorial and the Pioneers is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start inside of Pioneer Arena.
 
With half of the South Atlantic Conference matches officially in the books, the Lady Railsplitters find themselves in sole possession of sixth place with a 6-5 league mark. LMU's first league loss came at the hands of the Pioneers, who bested the Lady Railsplitters in a five-set thriller at Mary Mars Gym back on September 23. Facing a 2-1 deficit in that match, the Lady Railsplitters rallied behind a raucous home crowd to square the contest at 2-2 before ultimately succumbing to the Pioneers 15-12 in the decisive fifth frame.
 
That victory was the third leg of what would turn out to be a nine-match winning streak for the Pioneers, which ended on Saturday in a straight-set loss to the ninth-ranked Wingate Bulldogs. Tusculum finished the first half of SAC play with a 9-2 mark, good for third place at the midway point.
 
The Lady Railsplitters' attention will be squarely turned to senior outside hitter Megan Hasse, who collected a season-best 22 kills on a .350 attack percentage in the first match-up to lead the Pioneers to victory. Hasse ranks third in the SAC with 3.38 kills per set while her 220 total kills trails only Anderson's Hailey Pittman for the league lead. Sabrina Schleuger backed Hasse with a season-high 15 kills in that outing. Freshman Laryssa Welch, who is second on the team with 2.04 kills per set, posted 12 kills to give the Pioneers three players with double-digit kills.
 
The Lady Railsplitters have showed an improved offensive attack since the initial clash with the Pioneers, surpassing the .200 attacking threshold in four of their last six appearances. But, those matches in-between are cause for concern as Lincoln Memorial hit .113 in a four-set loss to Wingate (10/3) and .080 in a straight-set defeat at the hands of Carson-Newman (10/7). The Pioneers have relinquished a cumulative .195 attack percentage this season, and the Lady Railsplitters crested that mark with a .227 effort in the first meeting.
 
Freshman outside hitter Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.) leads the Lady Railsplitters into Tuesday's bout as she finished the first half of SAC play averaging 2.99 kills per set. The Columbia, S.C. native has accumulated 218 total kills, the third-most in the league. Holland paced the Lady Railsplitters with 19 kills in the first meeting with Tusculum. Sophomore Brooke Fleeman (Nashville, Tenn.) is up to 2.53 kills per set after stringing together back-to-back 15-kill efforts against Newberry and Anderson. The right side ranks 14th in the league in kills per frame.
 
Tuesday's contest serves as the 59th meeting between Lincoln Memorial and Tusculum since the 1989 season. The Pioneers hold a narrow 31-27 edge in the series bolstered by a 5-2 mark in the last seven head-to-head meetings. Tusculum has not swept the regular-season series since the 2008 campaign.
 
The Lady Railsplitters and Pioneers are scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Greeneville, Tenn. The Tusculum Sports Information Department will be offering live stats and a free video broadcast.

Live Stats
Video