EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- The Lady Railsplitters (0-1) were handcuffed offensively, accounting for only 19 kills in a 3-0 loss (13-25, 19-25, 14-25) to the 23rd-ranked West Florida Argonauts (1-0) in the opener of the 2014 volleyball campaign at the Dunn Hospitality Classic in Evansville, Ind. on early Friday afternoon.
 
Lincoln Memorial dropped its season opener for the fourth-consecutive year, while falling to former Gulf South Conference rival West Florida in the third-straight head-to-head encounter.
 
10 different Argonauts notched multiple kills in the match as West Florida compiled a gaudy .388 attack percentage with 42 kills and only 11 swinging errors on 80 total attempts, while the Lady Railsplitters struggled to produce any positive offensive influence on the match. Lincoln Memorial hit .054 as a unit, accumulating 19 kills and 15 miscues on 74 attempts.
 
The Argonauts held an early 6-3 edge after the initial passage of play in the first frame, but a 5-0 run paced by two LMU setting errors and another attack error set the Lady Railsplitters back at an 11-3 disadvantage. Kills by Allison Beavers (Tomball, Texas) and freshman Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.) briefly halted UWF's momentum, yet the Argonauts slammed on the throttle and captured the point in 10 of the next 14 exchanges. Newcomer MaRanda Boddie (Springfield, Ohio) pitched in a pair of kills late in the set to close the gap before West Florida finished it off with a Sarah Scott kill.
 
LMU's offensive woes were most plainly highlighted in the second frame as the Lady Railsplitters mustered only three kills with five errors on 18 total attempts for a -.111 attack percentage. In the interim, the Argonauts posted the most productive set of the match with 16 kills on 30 attempts for a .333 attacking clip. Eight of those kills were collected in the first half of the stanza, which saw West Florida stride out to a commanding 16-4 lead. Aided by a number of uncharacteristic UWF miscues that included four service errors, five attack errors and two ball handling errors, the Lady Railsplitters clawed back to cut the deficit to 23-19 late. However, an Argo kill and an LMU attacking blunder derailed the comeback effort.
 
The Lady Railsplitters clung to life early in the third set, pulling even at 10-10 midway through the frame on an Argonaut ball handling error. That preceded an 8-0 run for West Florida which would eventually doom Lincoln Memorial. The Lady Railsplitters were able to pick up a point in only four of the final 19 rallies.
 
Kiera Holland led the LMU attack with six kills, but the freshman struggled with efficiency, committing nine swinging errors on 22 attempts. MaRanda Boddie posted five kills on 12 attempts for a .333 clip, while Allison Beavers chipped in with three put aways. Sophomore setter Abby Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) collected 13 assists and four digs. Casey Mense (Littleton, Colo.) picked up a team-high six digs with three assists. Kendra Gephart (Morrow, Ohio) tallied five digs to go alongside her two kills.
 
Holly Mattmuller and Autumn Duyn paced the Argonauts with eight and seven kills, respectively. Monique StCyr accumulated a match-high 32 assists, while Tori Martella accounted for another match-high number with 13 scoops.
 
Lincoln Memorial has not finished with an attacking percentage lower than Friday's .054 effort since September 28 of last season, a .053 performance against Wingate.
 
The Lady Railsplitters look to bounce back at 8 p.m. on Friday against Cedarville in the second match of the Dunn Hospitality Classic, hosted by the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville, Ind.