HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The second half of the South Atlantic Conference volleyball schedule commences this weekend when the Lady Railsplitters (8-8, 5-5 SAC) travel to North Carolina for league tilts against Brevard and Lenoir-Rhyne.
 
Lincoln Memorial wraps up the regular-season series against Brevard (8-9, 5-6 SAC) at 7 p.m. on Friday in Brevard, N.C. before heading over to Hickory for a showdown with Lenoir-Rhyne (10-5, 9-2 SAC) at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
 
The Lady Railsplitters are back in action after a 1-2 showing last weekend in the Peach Belt/South Atlantic Conference Challenge, as they ripped through Francis-Marion in straight sets and then lost to a pair of NCAA tournament hopefuls in Lander (3-1) and USC Aiken (3-0).
 
The loss to USC Aiken, in particular, was difficult to characterize, as the Lady Railsplitters played well offensively by hitting .242 and making a season-low eight attack errors. But they couldn't slow down the Pacers, who produced 58 kills with a .319 attack percentage in the three-set match. That was the most kills for an LMU opponent in a three-set match since Northern Kentucky dropped 61 on the Lady Railsplitters on September 4, 2007.
 
Liz Brock (Lima, Ohio) continued to play well for the Lady Railsplitters in that match against the Pacers, racking up 10 kills on a .385 attack percentage. Brock has at least seven kills with an attack percentage above .300 in four of her last six matches.
 
This weekend begins a closing stretch that will mostly send Lincoln Memorial on the road. After this three-match road trip, the Lady Railsplitters return to Mary Mars for a three-game homestand before going on the road for four of the last five matches of the regular season. In order to climb up the SAC standings, Lincoln Memorial will have to improve upon its 1-5 record in road matches this season.
 
Senior Casey Mense (Littleton, Colo.) continues her hunt for Lincoln Memorial's career digs record, as she enters the weekend needing 50 digs to tie Amanda Horenkamp for the all-time mark. She needs just 20 scoops to become the second player in program history with 1700 career digs.
 
Live stats will be available for both matches, while Saturday's match against Lenoir-Rhyne will also be a video streamed. Those links can be accessed at www.LMURailsplitters.com.
 
Know the Opponents
 
Brevard - 7 p.m. Live Stats 
 
At the midway point of the South Atlantic Conference schedule, Brevard sits in seventh in the league standings, but that hides the fact that the Tornados have been one of the hottest teams in the league since late September, winning six of their last seven matches. That stretch includes SAC victories over Newberry, Mars Hill, Tusculum and Queens.
 
When comparing the split stats from September and October, it's clear that Brevard's underclassmen-heavy rotation has improved immensely as the season has rolled along. In September, when the Tornados went 3-8, they averaged 11.44 kills per set on a .138 attack percentage. Since the calendar flipped to October, Brevard has averaged 12.38 kills per set with a .175 attack percentage. Overall, they have settled somewhere in between those figures with 11.78 kills, 11.08 assists, 1.64 blocks and 17.82 digs per set.
 
The Tornados' offense runs through senior outside hitter Fatima Gharachorloo, who leads the SAC in kills with 227 and ranks third in the league in kills per set with 3.49. She comes into Friday's match with 18 and 19 kills in her last two appearances respectively. She is also contributing 3.11 digs per frame. Sophomore middle blocker Rachel Ruble has also been a standout for Brevard, compiling 2.42 kills per set, a .234 attack percentage and 0.92 digs per set. Four other players are averaging right at a kill and a half per set. Right side Whitney DeMoss headlines that quartet with 1.87 kills per.
 
Sophomore setter Erin Barr is averaging 9.28 assists and 3.42 digs per set, while Aleksandra Vrvilo is ranked second in the SAC in digs (342) and digs per set (5.26).
 
It took every ounce of five sets for the Lady Railsplitters to improve to 20-0 all-time against Brevard and take game one of the regular-season series in the South Atlantic Conference opener on September 11 at Mary Mars Gym. Lincoln Memorial trailed 2-1 in the match before winning set four 25-15 and then clinching the victory with a narrow 16-14 win in set five. The Tornados' front line accounted for 19 block assists in that contest, while Ruble (18 kills) and Gharachorloo (17) led the Brevard offense. Four different Lady Railsplitters had double-digit kills, led by 15 from Fleeman.
 
Lenoir-Rhyne - 5 p.m. Live Stats | Video 
 
The Bears' slow start, which saw them drop four of their first five matches in straight sets, now seems like something from a different season entirely, as Lenoir-Rhyne's win over Lincoln Memorial on September 12 sparked an eight-match winning streak that included a five-set win over league powerhouse Wingate. The Bears were upset at Queens last Saturday, but bounced back with a 3-1 win on Tuesday to move to third in the SAC standings with a 9-2 mark.
 
A key to Lenoir-Rhyne's success is that they don't give points away readily. The Bears have the fewest attack errors in the SAC with 259, the second-fewest service errors with 77, the third-fewest reception errors with 63 and the fewest ball-handling miscues with nine. They are also among the league's best in actual production with 12.29 kills per set on a .202 attack percentage. L-R leads the league in solo blocks with 41 in SAC play alone.
 
Sophomore Brooke Redmond - the reigning SAC Freshman of the Year - is having another big year for the Bears with 3.07 kills per set, a .233 attack percentage and 2.76 digs per set. She has been in a real groove of late, too, accounting for 20 kills at Catawba and 22 at Queens. Senior Ashley Wells has produced 2.36 kills per set, albeit on an inefficient .129 attack percentage. She leads the Bears with 64 attack errors. Brandi Thomas has contributed 2.13 kills per set with a .257 attack percentage, while Morgan Bunker is averaging 1.69 kills and 3.31 assists per set.
 
Senior Briana Gottberg and freshman Jessica Funk engineer the Bears' 6-2 system, as Gottberg leads the team with 6.35 assists and 3.49 digs per set. Funk has accounted for 4.16 assists per frame.
 
The Bears limited the Lady Railsplitters to a season-worst .099 attack percentage in the first meeting this season on September 12 at Mary Mars Gym, capturing a four-set win to beat Lincoln Memorial for the fifth straight time. Fleeman flourished in that match with 13 kills and a .265 attack percentage, but no other LMU player had more than eight kills. Redmond racked up 16 kills to lead the Lenoir-Rhyne attack, while Bunker has 12 kills and a team-high 20 digs.