EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Lincoln Memorial (0-3) freshman outside hitter Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.) connected for a career-high 18 kills in a losing effort as the North Alabama Lions (2-1) rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat the Lady Railsplitters in five sets on the second day of the Dunn Hospitality Classic in Evansville, Ind. Saturday afternoon. LMU fell by scores of 19-25, 25-19, 27-25, 9-25 and 12-15.
 
As a result, the Lady Railsplitters lost three-consecutive matches for the first time since dropping three-straight South Atlantic Conference bouts from October 9-13, 2009. Meanwhile, North Alabama topped Lincoln Memorial in the 21st straight head-to-head meeting. LMU and UNA had not played since the 2005 season prior to Saturday's encounter.
 
A kill from Megan Gorey and back-to-back Megan Wadsworth kills propped the Lions to a 14-7 advantage in the first set, a hole from which the Lady Railsplitters would be unable to climb out. Lincoln Memorial closed the gap to 16-14 via a UNA attack error, but kills in four of the five rallies expanded the North Alabama cushion to 20-15. Gorey and Wadsworth concluded UNA's 25-19 opening-set victory with kills in the final two exchanges.
 
The Lady Railsplitters bounced back in the second frame behind Holland and senior right side Allison Beavers (Tomball, Texas), who combined for eight of the team's 11 kills in the set to pace a 25-19 triumph. Lincoln Memorial broke away from an early 3-3 stalemate on the wings of two-straight kills from Holland. LMU never trailed again in the set, building as large as a six-point lead at 19-13 on Brooke Fleeman (Nashville, Tenn.) and MaRanda Boddie's (Springfield, Ohio) combo block. The Lions pulled to within one before Beavers belted consecutive kills to extend the lead to 21-18. Beavers added another kill late, preceding a UNA attack error that ended the set.
 
The watershed third set was a grueling battle that featured 11 ties and seven lead changes, eventually needing extra points to settle the score. The Lady Railsplitters fought off match point two times as Boddie evened the score at 24-24 with a kill before a Victoria Quintanilla attack error squared the set at 25 apiece. A second attack error, this time from Peyton Lang, opened the door for the Lady Railsplitters, and Kendra Gephart (Morrow, Ohio) kicked it open with a kill, emphatically sealing LMU's 27-25 win.
 
The third set was the most productive for the Lady Railsplitters with 12 kills and a 16-for-26 sideout percentage. The fourth set was a complete inverse as Lincoln Memorial accumulated only five kills with six errors for a -.042 attack percentage, paired with an 8-for-24 effort on sideouts. The Lions ran away with the set, using a kill in five of the last nine rallies to conclude a 25-9 victory.
 
The Lady Railsplitters were unable to recover from the jolt of the fourth set, falling behind 5-1 following a ball handling error early in the fifth and final frame. An Andrea De Leon kill pushed the UNA lead to 10-5, but the Lady Railsplitters drew it back to 10-8 on an Abby Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) kill. After a North Alabama timeout, the two teams traded points in four-straight plays before an LMU attack error broke that trend and propelled the Lions in front, 13-10. Two kills from Megan Gorey eventually ended the set in favor of UNA, 15-12.
 
Kiera Holland's 18 kills led the Lady Railsplitters, and she added a career-high 10 digs to record the first double-double of her collegiate career. Allison Beavers notched eight kills and three digs, while both Brooke Fleeman and MaRanda Boddie tallied six kills apiece. Sophomore setter Abby Cash paced the Lady Railsplitters with 32 assists to go alongside eight digs. Kendra Gephart fronted the team defensively with 14 digs.
 
Megan Gorey carried the Lion attack with 24 kills, while Peyton Lang and Natasha Fomina added 12 and 10, respectively. Andrea De Leon paired her six put aways with 48 assists and nine digs. Ashtyn Kapovick led all players in the match with 23 scoops.
 
The Lady Railsplitters will look to erase the program's first 0-3 start since the 1992 season at 5:30 p.m., completing the Dunn Hospitality Classic with a match-up against West Alabama. Live stats are available for the Saturday evening tilt.