HARROGATE, Tenn. -- A resilient effort fueled by a raucous crowd ultimately fell short as the Lady Railsplitters (7-5, 3-1 SAC) suffered a five-set loss to the visiting Tusculum Pioneers (4-8, 3-1 SAC) in a South Atlantic Conference thriller at Mary Mars Gymnasium Tuesday. Lincoln Memorial saw its six-match winning streak snapped by set scores of 25-16, 23-25, 13-25, 25-23 and 12-15.
 
The loss snapped a two-match winning streak against Tusculum as the Lady Railsplitters fall to 27-31 in the all-time series, which dates back to the 1989 season. The loss also ended the longest winning flourish in the South Atlantic Conference as the Lady Railsplitters had one six straight prior to Tuesday's contest.
 
Freshman Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.) churned out 19 kills and a career-high 19 assists to lead the Lady Railsplitters' attack. Holland finished with a .250 attack percentage, but she struggled in stretches with eight attacking errors and six reception miscues. Sophomore Brooke Fleeman (Nashville, Tenn.) posted 11 kills on 35 attempts, while junior Jazzy Oates (Franklin, Tenn.) added nine kills and seven digs. Sophomore setter Abby Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) nearly recorded a triple-double with a career-high eight kills to go alongside 44 assists and 15 digs. Senior Allison Beavers (Tomball, Texas) notched eight kills in her return from injury, while Allison McKinnon (Missouri City, Texas) sparked LMU with five kills and a team-leading six block assists off the bench. Junior Casey Mense (Littleton, Colo.) paced the Lady Railsplitters with 23 scoops. 
 
The Lady Railsplitters hit .227 as a unit with 66 kills and 24 errors on 185 attempts. Both reception errors and the battle at the net proved costly to Lincoln Memorial. The Lady Railsplitters committed nine reception miscues to only four for the Pioneers, while the visitors from Greeneville, Tenn. accounted for a 22-14 block advantage.
 
The three-headed attack of Megan Hasse, Sabrina Schleuger and Laryssa Welch combined for 49 of the Pioneers' 63 kills, as Hasse fronted that trio with a 22 kill effort. Hasse amassed those 22 kills on 60 attempts with only one error for a .350 attack percentage. Schleuger compiled 15 kills with 11 digs, while Welch hit .222 with 12 kills. Rachel Garnett added eight kills and seven block assists, while Jaida Allen led all players with eight block assists. Moriah Johnson recorded a match-high 33 digs.
 
Two kills apiece from Fleeman and Beavers sparked the Lady Railsplitters to a 10-2 advantage in the opening set. Three kills in the next four possessions helped the Pioneers close the gap to 11-5, but LMU responded with a 4-0 run fueled by three-consecutive kills from Cash and Oates. Three-straight LMU attacking errors brought the Pioneers to within 17-12, but back-to-back kills from Holland kick started a 6-1 Lady Railsplitter run. Kara Solek (Denver, N.C.) capped the Lady Railsplitters' 25-16 triumph with a kill. 
 
The Pioneers controlled the early stretch of play in set two, using a Hasse kill and a ball handling error to build a 10-6 cushion. The Lady Railsplitters responded with a 4-0 rally, capped with a Holland service ace, to knot the set at 10-10. Tusculum regained command by taking three of the next four rallies, and they would retain the lead until a Schleuger attack error and a Beavers kill pushed LMU in front 21-20. Another Beavers kill kept the Lady Railsplitters ahead 23-22, but the Pioneers closed on a 3-0 run, aided by two LMU attack errors, to even the match with a 25-23 victory.
 
Set three was a struggle for the Lady Railsplitters. A MaRanda Boddie (Springfield, Ohio) kill closed LMU's early deficit to 10-8, but the Pioneers promptly ripped off a 6-1 run to assume a 16-9 lead. Fleeman registered a kill to make it 17-12, which would be the closest the Lady Railsplitters would get for the remainder of the set. The Pioneers ended the frame with an 8-1 flurry to grab a 2-1 edge.
 
Trouble brewed again early in set four as the Lady Railsplitters found themselves facing an 8-3 deficit following a Schleuger kill and an attack error. Still trailing 10-5, Lincoln Memorial rallied behind their revitalizing crowd with a 6-1 flourish to knot the set at 11-11. The Pioneers briefly quieted the Mary Mars faithful with a 7-2 run over the ensuing passage of play, but the Lady Railsplitters answered emphatically with a 7-0 run to take a 20-18 lead. Holland accounted for three kills over that sudden surge. The two teams traded points until the Pioneers worked it back even at 23-23 on a Hasse kill and an LMU attack error. But the Lady Railsplitters had one last rebuttal as Kendra Gephart (Morrow, Ohio) connected for kills in back-to-back possessions to force a decisive fifth set.
 
Kills by Holland and McKinnon propped LMU to a 2-1 edge in the fifth frame, but Tusculum ripped off four-consecutive points to take a 5-2 lead, which it would not relinquish. The Lady Railsplitters scrounged to within one on four separate instances, but a late 3-0 run helped the Pioneers build a 14-10 advantage. Laryssa Welch capped Tusculum's 15-12 match-clinching victory with a kill.
 
The Pioneers collected 63 kills and 18 attacking errors for a .243 attack percentage, the fourth-highest total the Lady Railsplitters have allowed this season.
 
The Lady Railsplitters return to action on Friday, September 26 with a trip to Hickory, N.C. to square off against the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears at 7 p.m. in a South Atlantic Conference match-up.