HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The Lady Railsplitters (9-10, 6-7 SAC) host their final South Atlantic Conference weekend doubleheader of the season at Mary Mars Gym this weekend when the Queens Royals (7-11, 5-8 SAC) and Catawba Indians (11-9, 8-5 SAC) roll into town for a pair of NCAA Division II volleyball matches. Lincoln Memorial takes on Queens at 7 p.m. on Friday before completing the weekend against Catawba on Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
Friday will serve as the Lady Railsplitters' Civil Servants Appreciation Night. Local police will be in attendance and honored between sets one and two. On Saturday, the Rock, Roll and Tumble team out of Middlesboro, Ky. will perform between sets. Admission is completely free of charge for all home volleyball matches.
 
The Lady Railsplitters are coming off of a disappointing straight-set loss at Tusculum on Tuesday night. In that contest, Lincoln Memorial was limited to 31 kills and a .188 attack percentage while the Pioneers produced 50 kills on a .340 hitting clip, the highest mark by an LMU opponent since the quarterfinals of the 2014 SAC Championship. Liz Brock (Lima, Ohio), Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.) and Brooke Fleeman (Nashville, Tenn.) paced the Lady Railsplitters with six kills apiece. It was the first time LMU had lost to Tusculum in straight sets since the 2007 season and only the second time it had occurred since 1996.
 
After opening October with four consecutive wins, the Lady Railsplitters have now lost four of their last five matches, but thankfully only two of those losses were in South Atlantic Conference play. Lincoln Memorial is now tied for sixth place in the league, but fifth place Anderson is only a game ahead, while fourth place Catawba has just a two-game cushion. Once this weekend is complete, the remainder of the Lady Railsplitters' schedule is not exactly favorable though, as LMU hosts Carson-Newman and then heads on the road for five of the last six regular-season matches.
 
Though she's had to wait a little longer than expected, barring some unforeseen circumstances, Casey Mense (Littleton, Colo.) should now have the opportunity to break Lincoln Memorial's career record for digs in front of her home crowd. She enters the weekend five digs away from tying Amanda Horenkamp's program record of 1,730 digs.
 
Both Fleeman and Brock are closing in on 200 kills for the season as Fleeman has a team-high 187 kills while Brock has produced 181 kills.
 
Live stats and video links for both matches can be found at www.LMURailsplitters.com, the comprehensive online home of Lincoln Memorial sports. Fans can also follow the official LMU Athletics Twitter account (@LMURailsplitter) for live updates on the matches as they progress.   
 
Know the Opponents
 
Queens - Friday at 7 p.m. Live Stats | Video
 
The Royals enter the weekend in a near must-win situation, as they are tied for eighth place in the South Atlantic Conference standings and sit just a game back of Lincoln Memorial and Tusculum.
 
Queens had a forgettable start to October, giving last place Coker their first SAC win of the season while also dropping matches to Wingate and Brevard. The Royals have since turned the page, pulling out wins over Lenoir-Rhyne, Francis Marion and Newberry to pull back into playoff contention.
 
In last Saturday's win against Newberry, the Royals rallied from a two sets to one deficit to win in five sets despite hitting just .139 and committing 32 attack errors.
 
That wasn't an entirely uncharacteristic performance though, as the Royals' mistake-prone offense leads the SAC in attack errors with 455. Queens is ranked ninth in the league in kills per set with 11.76 and eighth in hitting percentage with a .160 mark.
 
The Royals win with their defense more times than not. Opponents are averaging just 11.25 kills per set against the Royals' formidable blocking attack, which ranks first in the SAC and 17th in the nation with 2.39 blocks per set. Queens has 303 block assists this season, 43 more than any other team in the league.
 
Outside hitters Meredith Jones and Rebecca Cochran and right side Jessica Raines individually average more than two kills per set for the Royals. Jones ranks seventh in the SAC with 2.85 kills per set, pairing that with 2.25 digs per set and a .172 hitting percentage. Raines is putting up 2.37 kills per set with a .205 attack percentage, while Cochran has 2.18 kills and 2.91 digs per frame. Middle hitter Taylor Henry leads the Royals and is second in the conference with 1.21 blocks per set. Sophomore Sydney Kunz leads the Royals with 5.54 assists per set, while Megan Mancini is contributing a team-leading 4.34 digs per.
 
Queens won the first meeting against the Lady Railsplitters in four sets back on September 18 in Charlotte, N.C., but Lincoln Memorial still leads the all-time series 6-3. The Royals piled up 16 block assists and a solo block to limit Lincoln Memorial to a .158 attack percentage with 21 errors. Holland and Brock were both stellar in that contest though, combining for 24 kills and a .308 hitting percentage. Jones paced the Royals with a match-high 17 kills. The Lady Railsplitters survived a late rally by Queens to win a five-set thriller in last season's meeting at Mary Mars Gym.
 
Catawba - Saturday at 2 p.m. Live Stats | Video
 
The Indians have improved vastly since losing six of their first 10 matches to start the season, winning seven of their last 10 to ascend to fourth place in the current South Atlantic Conference standings. Catawba, who faces Carson-Newman on Friday night, comes into the weekend with three consecutive straight-set victories over Brevard, Newberry and Anderson.
 
That win over Anderson in particular showcased the strides the Indians have made from the start of the season until now. Catawba was pounded in straight sets (19-25, 23-25, 23-25) by the Trojans on September 12, but avenged that loss with a convincing 3-0 win (25-13, 25-23, 26-24) a little over a month later. 
 
The Indians don't boast eye-popping offensive numbers, ranking seventh in the league with 11.79 kills per set, but they also don't hurt themselves too often, committing the fourth-fewest attack errors with 358. In total, Catawba is ranked fourth in the SAC with a .189 attack percentage.
 
What the Indians do best, like Queens, is prevent other teams from getting too comfortable offensively. Catawba is ranked second in the SAC and 54th in the nation with 2.09 blocks per set, as they limit opponents to a .159 attack percentage, the fourth-best mark in the SAC this season.
 
Erin Morant leads the Indians with 2.36 kills per set and a SAC-best .333 attack percentage to go along with 0.90 blocks per. Alex Hopper has produced 2.29 kills per set on a .162 attack percentage, while McKenzie Garrison has 2.14 kills and 2.79 digs per set. Bri Howard is putting up 2.02 kills per set on a .229 attack percentage while leading the team with 1.19 blocks per frame. Kaytee Frabotta is gathering 9.14 assists and 2.89 digs per set, while Evan Schultz leads the Royals with 4.17 digs per.
 
The Lady Railsplitters lost a four-set match at Catawba back on September 19 to snap a seven-match winning streak against the Indians. That loss evened the all-time series at 11-11. Lincoln Memorial struggled with efficiency in that contest, hitting .149 with 29 attack errors. Catawba, meanwhile, had 57 kills, 21 errors and a .214 attack percentage. Jazzy Oates (Franklin, Tenn.) matched her season-high with 14 kills, while Holland had 11 terminations. Hopper paced the Indians with 15 kills. Lincoln Memorial has won the last four matches against Catawba at Mary Mars Gym.