HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The Lady Railsplitters (10-11, 7-8 SAC) host arch-rival Carson-Newman (21-3, 14-1 SAC) for a South Atlantic Conference clash at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Mary Mars Gymnasium.
 
In addition to the highly-anticipated match against the Eagles, Lincoln Memorial will host Halloween Madness at Mars, as fans are invited to wear their Halloween costumes to the game for a chance to win prizes and other treats. Fans are encouraged to create some Halloween havoc and bring the noise as the Lady Railsplitters try to take down one of the SAC frontrunners.
 
The Lady Railsplitters split a pair of league tilts this past weekend, falling in five sets to Queens on Friday before dismissing Catawba in straight sets on Saturday. Lincoln Memorial was steady offensively in both of those matches, hitting .255 against the Royals - their highest hitting percentage in a losing effort since 2003 - and .252 against Catawba. The Lady Railsplitters had 15 more kills than the Indians, who were limited to a paltry .092 attack percentage. 
 
Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.) and Brooke Fleeman (Nashville, Tenn.) paced the LMU attack, as Holland racked up 16 kills against Queens and 10 versus Catawba, while Fleeman had nine against the Royals and 15 kills with a .367 attack percentage against the Indians. Holland now ranks third on the team with 2.25 kills per set, just behind Liz Brock's (Lima, Ohio) 2.56 kills per frame. Fleeman continues to lead the team in that category with 2.67 kills per set.
 
Senior outside hitter Casey Mense (Littleton, Colo.) broke the program's career record for digs this past weekend as well, logging the 1,731st dig of her career in the third set of the Lady Railsplitters' match against Queens to surpass Amanda Horenkamp's record that stood since 2009. She now has 1,746 career digs.
 
Aside from Wingate and Carson-Newman, who have established a three-game lead over everybody else, the South Atlantic Conference standings are bunched up pretty tightly, providing Lincoln Memorial with a chance to control its own destiny. The Lady Railsplitters are currently locked in a three-way tie with Tusculum and Anderson for fifth place at 7-8, while Catawba is in fourth place at 8-7. Lenoir-Rhyne is three games clear of the Indians at 11-4. The Lady Railsplitters still have matches remaining against Tusculum and Anderson, as well as league bottom feeders Newberry, Mars Hill and Coker.
 
Live stats and video for Tuesday's match will be available at www.LMURailsplitters.com. Attendance is completely free of charge to all home volleyball matches. 
 
Know the Opponent
 
Carson-Newman - 7 p.m. Live Stats | Video
 
The Eagles are in the midst of a heated battle with Wingate for the South Atlantic Conference regular season title, as both teams enter the week tied atop the standings with a 14-1 league record. Carson-Newman has won seven consecutive matches since losing to USC Aiken on October 9, and five of those seven wins have been earned in straight sets.
 
Carson-Newman played three matches this past weekend, grinding out a five-set win over Catawba on Friday, beating Queens in four sets in Saturday's matinee and pounding Columbus State in Saturday evening's match
 
The Eagles are either ranked first or second in the SAC in total kills with 1,132, kills per set with 13.32, attack percentage with a .209 mark, assists per set with 12.05 and service aces with 155. They also lead the SAC in service errors with 241, almost 50 more than the team with the second-highest total (Queens, 195). That nearly cost the Eagles on Friday too, as they committed a season-high 21 service errors against Catawba.
 
While the numbers are impressive offensively, it's what Carson-Newman does defensively that makes them an elite program. The Eagles are allowing opponents just 10.24 kills per set on a .133 attack percentage this season, ranking 33rd in the nation in opponent hitting percentage according to the most recent NCAA statistical update. C-N has allowed an opponent to hit better than .200 just five times this season. On the other end of the spectrum, they have held their opponent below a .100 attack percentage 10 times.
 
The Carson-Newman offense is led by two of the South Atlantic Conference's top-five attackers according to kills per set in seniors Molly Locke and Sara Fairley. Locke is accounting for the fourth-most kills per set in the league with 3.33 on a .260 attack percentage to go along with 2.84 digs per. Fairley is fifth in the SAC with 3.31 kills per set on a .178 attack percentage, while also adding 2.25 digs per frame. Junior middle blocker Maddie Borch is putting up 2.52 kills per set with a SAC-best .337 attack percentage. She also leads the Eagles with 0.86 blocks per. Freshman Natalie Harris is also averaging over two kills per set with 2.28 on a .232 hitting clip.
 
Sophomore setter Anna Patton leads the SAC in total assists (878) and assists per set (10.33), while junior Taylor Lowe is accounting for a team-high 4.14 digs per set.
 
The Lady Railsplitters are 29-18 all-time against Carson-Newman, but the Eagles have won four of the last six meetings, including three straight. Carson-Newman narrowly escaped with a 3-2 win in the first meeting between the two teams this season on September 22 in Jefferson City. The Eagles easily won set one and built a 14-7 lead in set two before the Lady Railsplitters rallied for a match-tying 26-24 win. LMU and Carson-Newman then traded sets three and four before the Eagles clinched the match with a 15-9 win in set five. Fleeman had a career-high 18 kills, while Fairley led Carson-Newman with 19.
 
The Lady Railsplitters hit .153 in that match, but forced Carson-Newman into a then season-high 25 attack errors with 16 blocks assists.