HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The Lady Railsplitters (11-11, 8-8 SAC) look to keep the good times rolling this weekend when they hit the road to face the Coker Cobras (4-17, 1-15 SAC) and Wingate Bulldogs (21-2, 15-1 SAC) for a pair of South Atlantic Conference battles. Lincoln Memorial first stops in Hartsville, S.C. for a 7 p.m. match against Coker on Friday before squaring off against Wingate at 5 p.m. in Wingate, N.C. on Saturday.
 
The Lady Railsplitters enter the weekend having won back-to-back matches in straight sets, including a decisive 25-12, 25-20, 25-17 triumph over the Carson-Newman Eagles, who carried a seven-match winning streak into that contest, on Tuesday at Mary Mars Gymnasium.
 
Lincoln Memorial recorded the program's highest hitting percentage in a match since the 2013 season, producing 42 kills with a .358 attack percentage. At the same time, the Lady Railsplitters limited the normally-efficient Eagles to a paltry .097 attack percentage with just 35 kills. The win snapped a three-game losing skid to Carson-Newman, who entered that match tied atop the SAC standings at 14-1 in league play.
 
Kiera Holland (Nashville, Tenn.) turned in arguably the best performance of her sophomore season, pacing the Lady Railsplitters with 15 kills on a .500 attack percentage. Liz Brock (Lima, Ohio) added nine kills on a .333 clip, while Brooke Fleeman (Nashville, Tenn.) and Danielle Ged (Smyrna, Tenn.) produced six kills apiece.
 
The Lady Railsplitters' offensive efficiency has improved leaps and bounds as the season sprints towards the finish line. Dating back to last Friday's match against Queens, Lincoln Memorial has hit better than .250 in three consecutive matches. That's a feat the Lady Railsplitters haven't replicated since the tail end of the 2013 season. Lincoln Memorial is hitting .206 in the month of October, which would rank second in the South Atlantic Conference behind only Wingate.
 
A mostly undiscussed topic has been the serve of Erica Whiteaker (Kingston Springs, Tenn.), which has functioned as a real momentum shifter for the Lady Railsplitters this season. Whiteaker, who leads the Lady Railsplitters and ranks eighth in the SAC with 4.14 digs per set, has compiled 35 service aces this season, ranking third in the league in that category.
 
Live stats will be available for both of the Lady Railsplitters' weekend matches at www.LMURailsplitters.com. A live video stream of Friday's match at Coker can also be accessed at www.LMURailsplitters.com, the comprehensive online home of Lincoln Memorial athletics.
 
Know the Opponent
 
Coker - Friday at 7 p.m. Live Stats | Video
 
The Cobras opened the month of October by winning two of their first three games, headlined by a stunning victory over Queens, but have since dropped seven straight matches including five in straight sets. Coker nearly pulled off a major upset last Saturday when they took the third-place Lenoir-Rhyne Bears to the absolutely limit before falling in five sets.
 
Coker is coming off of a lopsided 25-17, 25-14, 25-16 loss to Wingate on Tuesday, as the league-leading Bulldogs hit a season-high .341 and held the Cobras to a dismal .030 clip.
 
The Cobras have been plagued this season by a somewhat lifeless offensive attack that ranks last in the South Atlantic Conference in kills per set with 9.58 and hitting percentage at .098. According to the most recent NCAA statistical update, Coker is ranked 246th out of 281 NCAA Division II teams in attack percentage.
 
Opponents, meanwhile, are producing 12.94 kills per set on a .207 attack percentage against the Cobras.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Madison Bingle is far and away the Cobras' go-to offensive threat, as she leads the team in kills per set with 2.67 while chipping in 2.72 digs per set. Sophomore right side Megan Hardy is contributing 1.82 kills per set on a .134 attack percentage, while middle hitter Alexis Berles is factoring in 1.39 kills per set on a team-leading .170 hitting percentage. Christen Bragg is distributing 6.44 assists per set with 2.33 scoops per, while Rachel Waters leads the team with 3.15 digs per.
 
The Lady Railsplitters improved to 5-0 all-time against the Cobras with a 3-1 win in Harrogate in the first go-around between the two teams on September 25 at Mary Mars Gym. Lincoln Memorial had 61 kills, 26 errors, a .208 attack percentage and a season-high 24 block assists, the seventh-most in the program's single-match history and their most since the 2009 campaign. Coker had 36 kills, 27 errors and a .059 attack percentage.
 
Holland paced the Lady Railsplitters with 15 kills and 11 digs, while Brock contributed 11 kills and six digs. Tone Gill (Nashville, Tenn.) notched 10 kills and a career-high seven block assists. Abby Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) put up a monster performance with 54 assists and 12 digs. Whiteaker led all players with 17 digs.
 
Shealynn Miller carried the Cobra attack with nine kills on a .471 attack percentage, as no other Coker player hit above .150 in the match. Bingle and Cayley Gunter chipped in six kills apiece. Bragg recorded a team-high 14 assists and 16 digs.
 
Wingate - Saturday at 5 p.m. Live Stats
 
The nine-time defending South Atlantic Conference champion Wingate Bulldogs are on the completely opposite end of the spectrum from Coker, as they have won 14 consecutive matches since losing to Lenoir-Rhyne in five sets on September 18. Nine matches during that 14-game winning streak have been finished off in straight sets. The Bulldogs have actually won six of their last seven matches in straight sets, including Tuesday's evisceration of the Cobras.
 
The Bulldogs are an absolute offensive juggernaut, leading the SAC in kills per set with 13.60 and attack percentage with a .229 clip. Those numbers rank 31st and 48th in the nation respectively via the most recent NCAA statistical update.
 
Wingate pairs an impressively efficient and productive offense with one of the stingiest defenses in the country, as opponents are accumulating just 9.79 kills per set on a .103 attack percentage against the Bulldogs. Wingate is ranked third in the nation in opponent attack percentage.
 
Two of the top-three attackers in the league reside in Wingate. Shelly Stumpff leads the SAC in kills per set with 3.71 on a .285 attack percentage to go along with 3.03 digs per frame. Abby Saehler is third in the league with 3.52 kills per set on a sky-high .326 attack percentage. Saehler is also among the SAC leaders in blocking with 71 total blocks and 0.95 per set. Oakley Attaway is chipping in 2.31 kills per set, while Katie Bludau is averaging 1.85 kills per frame. Iris Brewer is factoring in 9.89 assists per set with 2.97 digs per, while Kimberly Hovey is tallying 4.75 scoops per set.
 
The Lady Railsplitters surged out of the gate before ultimately falling 25-15, 18-25, 22-25, 19-25 to the Bulldogs in the first meeting between the two squads on September 26 in Harrogate. Lincoln Memorial, who slipped to 0-18 all-time in the series, held Wingate to its third-lowest attack percentage of the season with a .190 clip, as the Bulldogs finished with 58 kills, 28 attack errors and 22 block assists. The Lady Railsplitters had 46 kills, 23 errors, a .164 hitting percentage and 10 blocks.
 
Brock paced the Lady Railsplitters with 11 kills, while Jazzy Oates (Franklin, Tenn.) had eight kills on a .333 attack percentage. Fleeman contributed seven kills and four digs. Cash had 35 assists and 13 digs. Holland had six kills with 10 errors while leading LMU with 18 digs.
 
Stumpff went off for 17 kills to carry the Wingate attack, hitting .273 while adding 13 digs and four block assists. Attaway notched 13 kills and Saehler collected 12 kills, seven digs and a match-high six block assists. Brewer handed out 47 assists with 11 digs, while Hovey posted a team-high 17 digs.