HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The Lady Railsplitters (13-13, 10-10 SAC) look to avenge arguably their ugliest loss of the season and celebrate Senior Day on Tuesday evening when they welcome the Tusculum Pioneers (11-16, 8-13 SAC) to Mary Mars Gymnasium for a 7 p.m. South Atlantic Conference clash.
 
Before the ball goes up in the final home match of the 2015 season, Lincoln Memorial will pause a moment to reflect on the careers of its three seniors, Jazzy Oates (Franklin, Tenn.), Allison McKinnon (Missouri City, Texas) and Casey Mense (Littleton, Colo.) with a pre-match, Senior Day ceremony.
 
Oates has made 122 appearances in her four-year tenure with the Lady Railsplitters, compiling 786 total kills with an average of 1.73 per set. The Franklin, Tenn. native carries a lifetime .244 hitting percentage while ranking fifth all-time at LMU in career block assists with 273. She is ranked sixth all-time with 312 total blocks. McKinnon has played in 77 matches in her four seasons in the Blue and Gray, accumulating 122 kills on a .190 attack percentage over that span. Mense, meanwhile, is the program record holder for career digs with 1,772, as her career average of 4.03 per set is the fourth-highest mark in program history. She has also contributed 225 kills, 291 assists and 132 service aces.
 
The Lady Railsplitters are coming off of another up-and-down weekend in which they outlasted the Anderson Trojans in a five-set thriller late Friday night before faltering in a straight-set loss to Newberry on Saturday.
 
Lincoln Memorial unexpectedly had to sit through a two-hour delay while waiting for the traffic-delayed officials to arrive before Friday's match finally got underway at 9 p.m. The two teams traded sets back and forth until the Lady Railsplitters hit .417 in the fifth set to clinch the match 15-9. Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.) was the star of that contest, producing a season-high 18 kills including six in the final set.
 
The Lady Railsplitters showed signs of weariness on Saturday, though, as Newberry capitalized on LMU's nine service errors and six reception miscues to capture a 3-0 victory (25-23, 25-21, 27-25). It marked the Lady Railsplitters' first loss in Newberry since 2008 and their first straight-set loss to the Wolves in 23 all-time meetings.
 
Lincoln Memorial now directs its attention to a Tusculum squad that has lost five consecutive matches to slip into ninth place in the South Atlantic Conference standings.
 
That five-game skid hit a low point on Saturday when the Pioneers were beaten by the Brevard Tornados in straight sets by scores of 28-26, 25-17 and 25-23. Tusculum hit .111 in that contest and committed 23 attack errors on top of seven service errors to fall to the Tornados.
 
The Pioneers are among the top-3 teams in the league in kills per set (12.59), assists per set (11.81) and digs per set (19.49), but they have provided little resistance against opposing offenses, ranking 11th in the league with a mere 1.25 blocks per set. That has ultimately allowed their opposition to swing with relative freedom, as Tusculum is conceding a .199 hitting percentage and 13.09 kills per set.
 
Junior Rachel Garnett (2.89 kills/set, .246 attack percentage), sophomore Sabrina Schleuger (2.53 k/set, .158 %) and sophomore Laryssa Welch (2.01 k/set, .171 %) lead Tusculum offensively. Senior setter Hannah Berling is dishing out 10.03 assists per set to go along with 2.94 digs per set. Freshman Melissa Mazur is leading the Pioneers with 6.89 digs per set.
 
Tuesday will be the 61st meeting all-time between Lincoln Memorial and Tusculum, and the Lady Railsplitters have to hope that this one goes far better than No. 60 did.
 
In the first regular season match between the two squads back on October 20 in Greeneville, Tenn., the Pioneers compiled a .340 attack percentage and allowed the Lady Railsplitters to record just 31 kills on a .188 hitting clip in a lopsided 25-15, 25-18, 25-18 win. Welch and Schleuger paced Tusculum with 12 kills apiece while Sarah Bouley tallied 11 kills and Berling hung up 45 assists. Liz Brock (Lima, Ohio), Brooke Fleeman (Nashville, Tenn.) and Holland led the Lady Railsplitters with six kills apiece. It was Lincoln Memorial's first 3-0 loss to Tusculum since 2007.
 
The Pioneers own a narrow 32-28 advantage in the all-time series.
 
First serve between Lincoln Memorial and Tusculum is slated for 7 p.m. in Harrogate. Live stat and video links are available at www.LMURailsplitters.com.