ANDERSON, S.C. -- A familiar foe awaits the Lady Railsplitters (15-13) in the quarterfinal round of the 2015 South Atlantic Conference volleyball tournament, as Lincoln Memorial squares off against the five-seeded Catawba Indians (15-14) at 2:30 p.m. on Friday in Anderson, S.C. The winner of that contest advances to Saturday's semifinal round match to face the winner of Wingate/Brevard.
 
The Lady Railsplitters capped the regular season in style last Friday by nabbing a 3-0 victory (25-22, 27-25, 26-24) over the Mars Hill Lions in Mars Hill, N.C. Lincoln Memorial found a way to win despite being outhit in every set and out-killed 55-36 in the match. The difference was largely a product of errors, as Mars Hill finished with 21 attack errors and 12 service miscues compared to just 12 attack errors and two service miscues for the Lady Railsplitters. 
 
"Their offense was generating a lot of points, but they kind of got bit by the error bug," LMU head volleyball coach Jenny Michael said. "Our offense didn't score as much as theirs did, but they made a lot of mistakes, and we were fortunate enough to be disciplined and allow them to make those mistakes. While our offense didn't necessarily earn the points, our discipline on defense and in serve receive allowed us to get some easy ones."
 
The win helped the Lady Railsplitters close out the regular season as winners in six of their last eight matches and secure a tie for fourth place in the final South Atlantic Conference standings. That was quite an achievement considering that they won just two of their first seven South Atlantic Conference contests in early September.
 
"We haven't really finished the regular season on a high note the last couple of years. Some of that's been due to injury or some poor performances by some positions and individuals at the time, but this year has been a little bit different all around," Michael said. "We just needed to finish up with more consistency and we did that. I like to think that we are a pretty dangerous team, a team that a lot of other programs don't want to see going into the conference tournament. We will have to see if we can live up to that."
 
The Lady Railsplitters' late-season surge can be attributed in large part to the vastly improved individual play of Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.), who led Lincoln Memorial in total kills last season as a freshman, but struggled to maintain her consistency through the first month and a half of this season.
 
Holland - an All-SAC second team selection - has tallied double-digit kills in seven of her last nine appearances, including an 18-kill outburst on a .355 attack percentage in a win at Anderson. She also produced 17 kills with a .433 hitting percentage versus Tusculum two weeks ago. Holland, who has notched at least 10 digs 15 times this season, has been efficient, too, hitting above .200 in all but one of the last nine matches. She has surpassed the .300 attacking clip in five of those contests.
 
The Lady Railsplitters collectively have seen their offensive numbers steadily improve as the season has progressed. Lincoln Memorial accounted for 12.17 kills per set on a .160 attack percentage in September, but lifted those numbers to 12.40 kills per set and a .204 hitting percentage in October. In four matches in November, the Lady Railsplitters posted 12.44 kills per set and hit .214.
 
Catawba finished with an identical 12-10 mark in South Atlantic Conference play to tie the Lady Railsplitters for fourth place in the standings, but received the No.5 seed for the tournament by virtue of LMU's win over regular season runner-up Carson-Newman. Like the Lady Railsplitters, the Indians also head into postseason play fresh off a win, as they defeated Brevard in straight sets in their regular season finale on Saturday.
 
The Indians are returning to the SAC tournament for the first time since 2012. Coincidentally, they also played Lincoln Memorial in the opening round that year and dropped a five-set thriller to the Lady Railsplitters in Brevard, N.C. That was one of three all-time meetings between Lincoln Memorial and Catawba in the SAC tournament and one of four total postseason collisions. The Lady Railsplitters own a 2-1 edge in those three SAC tournament appearances against Catawba while the Indians won the only NCAA tournament match between the two squads in 2011.
 
Catawba boasts an efficient offense that, despite accounting for just 11.67 kills per set, ranks fourth in the South Atlantic Conference with a .190 attack percentage. Additionally, the Indians are holding opponents to just a .170 attack percentage (fifth-best opponent attack percentage in the SAC) while ranking second in the league in total blocks (228) and blocks per set (2.17).
 
Junior Alex Hopper (2.31 kills/set), senior Erin Morant (2.22 kills/set, .305 attack %), junior Bri Howard (2.21 kills/set, .281 %) and junior McKenzie Garrison (2.09 kills/set) pace the Indians offensively. Senior setter Kaytee Frabotta leads the team with 8.61 assists per set to go along with 2.84 digs per frame, while sophomore Evan Schultz is compiling a team-leading 3.85 digs per set.
 
"They are very versatile and they have some good offensive options. I think it's a good match-up for us because we are both very similar teams with what we have and what we can bring to the table," Michael said. "It's going to be a battle. If there's one thing I know with 100 percent certainty, it's that Coach (Ginger) Hamric will have them ready. They've had a young team for the last couple of seasons and created a solid core. And now this core is in their upperclassmen years and they're hungry. They've missed the postseason the last couple of years, but she's believed in them and stuck with them. And they believe in themselves. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain. They're going to be excited and we are going to have to respect that. It's going to be a battle."
 
The Lady Railsplitters and Indians split the regular season series, with Catawba winning 3-1 in Salisbury, N.C. on September 19 and Lincoln Memorial returning the favor with a 3-0 victory on October 24.
 
In the first meeting, the Lady Railsplitters were limited to a .149 attack percentage and committed 29 attack errors. Hopper led the Indians with 15 kills while Audrey Hoffman put up 12 kills. Jazzy Oates (Franklin, Tenn.) led Lincoln Memorial with 14 kills while Holland finished with 11 kills and 12 digs.
 
The second meeting saw the Lady Railsplitters register a .252 attack percentage with 46 kills and just 16 errors in the clean sweep. Catawba had a mere 31 kills with 20 errors and a .092 attack percentage. Brooke Fleeman (Nashville, Tenn.) led the way with 15 kills and a .367 attack percentage while both Holland and Liz Brock (Lima, Ohio) accounted for 10 kills. Howard and Garrison carried the Catawba attack with seven kills apiece.
 
The entire South Atlantic Conference tournament, which runs through Sunday's title game, will be hosted on the Anderson University campus. Live stats will be available for Friday's match at www.LMURailsplitters.com.

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