HARROGATE, Tenn. -- Senior outside hitter Casey Mense (Littleton, Colo.) broke Lincoln Memorial's program record for career digs, but it came in a losing effort as the Lady Railsplitters (9-11, 6-8 SAC) were dealt a five-set loss by the Queens Royals (8-11, 6-8 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action on Friday night at Mary Mars Gymnasium. Lincoln Memorial lost its third-straight league match by set scores of 25-14, 23-25, 25-21, 21-25 and 10-15.
 
Mense entered Friday night's match needing just six digs to overtake Amanda Horenkamp (2006-09) as the program's all-time leader in career digs, and she hit that mark in the third set, recording the 1,731st scoop of her illustrious career in the Blue and Gray. She finished the match with 12 digs to drive her career total to 1,737.
 
The Lady Railsplitters hit .255 in the contest with 59 kills and 20 errors, while Queens had a .192 attack percentage, 62 terminations and 29 miscues. Lincoln Memorial also outdug the Royals 69-63, but they hurt themselves with eight reception errors and nine service errors.
 
Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.) led the Lady Railsplitters with a season-high 16 kills, 16 digs and a .316 hitting percentage. Danielle Ged (Smyrna, Tenn.) also finished in double figures with 11 kills on a .320 clip to go along with two block assists. Brooke Fleeman (Nashville, Tenn.) and Liz Brock (Lima, Ohio) tallied nine kills apiece, while Tone Gill (Nashville, Tenn.) had four kills and a team-leading three block assists. Abby Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) produced 46 assists and seven digs. Erica Whiteaker (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) paced Lincoln Memorial with 17 digs.
 
The Lady Railsplitters started fast in set one, opening up a 10-5 lead following back-to-back kills from Holland and Cash. A 4-0 run nearly brought Queens all the way back, but Lincoln Memorial halted that run with a Bristol Snider (Chattanooga, Tenn.) kill to retain the lead. An LMU attack error pulled the Royals within one point at 12-11 before the Lady Railsplitters won eight of the next 10 rallies, capped by a Holland kill, to build an insurmountable 20-13 advantage. A kill by Brock ended the set in the Lady Railsplitters' favor 25-14. Lincoln Memorial produced 13 kills and a .333 attack percentage in the set, while Queens had nine kills and eight errors for a .034 hitting clip.
 
Queens flipped the script in the second set with an absolutely blistering offensive performance, hitting .400 with 18 kills. Two-straight LMU attack errors preceded a Jessica Raines kill that put the Royals in front 11-7. The two teams went back-and-forth over the ensuing passage of play, but an Annika Jones service ace increased Queens' margin to 20-14 late. With the Royals holding a commanding 22-16 lead, the Lady Railsplitters used kills from Holland and Ged, as well as a Fleeman ace, to churn out a 6-0 run and even the set at 22-22. However, Queens won three of the last four rallies and clinched the 25-23 win with a kill by Raines. LMU had 15 kills and a .294 attack percentage in the set, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Royals.
 
The Royals held a 10-8 edge in the third set, but committed four-consecutive attack errors to catapult the Lady Railsplitters back into the lead at 12-10. The next three points went to Queens, but an 8-3 flurry, capped by another Fleeman kill, pushed the Lady Railsplitters out to a 21-16 lead. The Royals trimmed the deficit to three points on two separate occasions down the stretch before a kill by Brock ended the set and gave Lincoln Memorial a two sets to one lead with a 25-21 triumph.
 
The fourth set featured nine ties as the Lady Railsplitters and Royals went toe-to-toe. A kill by Cash brought forth the final stalemate of the set and made it 13-13. Queens then took control of the frame with a 4-1 spurt, capped by a Katie Schoenrock kill, which gave the Royals a 17-14 edge. Allison McKinnon (Missouri City, Texas) pulled the Lady Railsplitters within one point at 17-16 on a kill, but the Royals responded by winning the next four points. That last push proved too much for the Lady Railsplitters to handle as Schoenrock forced a fifth set with a kill, ending the Royals' 25-21 victory.
 
A kill by Holland followed by a Queens attack error put the Lady Railsplitters in front 2-0 very early in the fifth set, but an 8-2 Royals run buried the Lady Railsplitters in an 8-4 hole. Another McKinnon kill and Queens attacking blunder made it 8-6 before a Schoenrock kill and a Meredith Jones ace increased the Royals' cushion back to four points. Lincoln Memorial was never able to cut the deficit to less than three points after that, as a kill by Alex Thompson ended the match.
 
Meredith Jones led the Royals with 16 kills, 11 digs and three block assists. Jessica Raines factored into the decision heavily with 12 kills and a pair of blocks. Schoenrock had nine kills and 16 digs, while Elizabeth Bialkowski notched eight kills and a match-high four blocks. Sydney Kunz (27) and Annika Jones (24) combined for 51 assists. Megan Mancini led all players with 18 digs.
 
The Lady Railsplitters complete the weekend set on Saturday when they face the Catawba Indians at 2 p.m. at Mary Mars Gym.
 
Match Notes
The Lady Railsplitters' .255 attack percentage was their highest in a losing effort since the 2003 season, when they hit .286 in a five-set loss to Carson-Newman...The loss dropped Lincoln Memorial to 6-4 all-time against Queens, who won for the second time at Mary Mars since 2013...Mense also owns the program's single-season record for digs, as she posted 586 during the 2013 campaign