HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The Lady Railsplitters (3-5, 1-4 SAC) begin a five-match homestand this weekend when they host the Coker Cobras and Wingate Bulldogs for a pair of South Atlantic Conference volleyball clashes at Mary Mars Gymnasium.
 
Lincoln Memorial welcomes Coker (2-5, 0-5 SAC) to town for a 7 p.m. first serve on Friday night before taking on Wingate (9-2, 4-1 SAC) at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. Friday will serve as LMU Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night as each Lady Railsplitter will recognize their favorite faculty or staff member prior to the contest. All faculty and staff members in attendance will also be recognized.
 
The Lady Railsplitters enter the weekend looking to end a four-match losing streak that dates back to September 12. Lincoln Memorial nearly ended the skid at three and pulled off a stunning upset on Tuesday night before ultimately suffering a five-set loss (15-25, 26-24, 19-25, 25-19, 9-15) at Carson-Newman.
 
There's a limit to the positive momentum that can be gained in a loss, but a number of things suggest that that match could be a turning point for the Lady Railsplitters. Lincoln Memorial showed a tremendous amount of grit and resolve after dropping set one 25-15 and falling behind 14-7 in the second stanza, eventually sending the match to a fifth set when they could have called it quits on Carson-Newman's home court. The Lady Railsplitters forced the normally efficient Eagles into a season-high 25 attack errors by matching a season-high with 16 block assists. LMU was just the second team to win more than one set against Carson-Newman this season.
 
Brooke Fleeman's (Nashville, Tenn.) performance was also a reason for optimism as she collected a career-high 18 kills with a .289 attack percentage to nearly lead the Lady Railsplitters to victory. Following her fifth double-digit kill performance of the season, Fleeman is ranked 10th in the SAC with 2.75 kills per set. Liz Brock (Lima, Ohio) and Jazzy Oates (Franklin, Tenn.) are also contributing more than two kills per set with 2.36 and 2.12, respectively. Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.) is averaging 1.71 kills per set.
 
Setter Abby Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) has six double-doubles in eight appearances this season. She recorded 40 assists and 12 digs against Carson-Newman after notching 44 assists and 15 digs against Catawba. She is ranked fourth in the SAC in assists per set with 9.18 and 18th in digs per set with 3.24.
 
The Lady Railsplitters will try to avoid their first five-match losing streak since the 2005 season, when they ended the year with five consecutive losses.

Live stats and a video broadcast, compliments of the LMU Sports Network, will be available via www.LMURailsplitters.com. Updates can also be found at the official LMU athletics Twitter page (@LMURailsplitter), where fans can join the conversation using the hashtag #LMUVB.
 
Know the Opponents
 
Coker - Friday at 7 p.m. Live Stats | Video
 
Suggesting that the Cobras have struggled since joining the South Atlantic Conference is putting it mildly. Including its 0-5 start under the direction of first-year coach Julia Rafalowski this season, Coker is a combined 1-48 in SAC play over the past three seasons. The Cobras arrive in Harrogate looking to end a SAC-high, five-match losing skid that dates back to September 11.
 
The Cobras are young and inexperienced with a roster consisting entirely of freshmen and sophomores, and that is evident upon an inspection of the numbers. Coker ranks among the bottom of the league in nearly every significant statistical category, sitting in last place in kills (254), kills per set (10.58), attack percentage (.140), assists per set (9.46) and digs per set (14.33). In SAC play alone, the Cobras are hitting a paltry .107, by far the worst clip in the conference.
 
Coker has not hit above .060 in any of its last three matches. They hit .056 in a four-set loss at Brevard, .060 in a three-set loss at Lenoir-Rhyne, and .043 in a straight-set setback at Wingate. Opponents are hitting .190 and averaging 12.17 kills per set against the Cobras this season.
 
Sophomores Madison Bingle and Megan Hardy pace the Cobras' offense attack. Bingle leads the team with 2.54 kills per set to go along with 3.04 digs per frame. Hardy has accounted for 2.04 digs per set and a .177 attack percentage. Christen Bragg has filled up the stat sheet with 5.42 assists, 2.21 digs and 1.67 kills per set, while Rachel Waters leads the Cobras with 3.82 digs per set.
 
The Lady Railsplitters have only lost one set while compiling a 4-0 all-time record against the Cobras, and that was in last season's meeting in Harrogate when Lincoln Memorial had to grind out a four-set win (31-29, 25-13, 22-25, 25-17). Holland paced the Lady Railsplitters, who hit .297 in that match, with 16 kills and a .600 attack percentage. Fleeman added 13 kills in that contest. The Lady Railsplitters attacked at a .270 clip in their win at Coker last season.
 
Wingate - Saturday at 2 p.m. Live Stats | Video
 
The Bulldogs have been the top dog of the South Atlantic Conference for nearly a decade, winning the last nine SAC regular season and tournament titles while making three consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.
 
But Wingate has not been quite as dominant as we're used to seeing early in the season as they dropped sets to both Mars Hill and Brevard, two teams with a combined 3-7 SAC record, and lost a five-set match at Lenoir-Rhyne. In the wake of that loss, the Bulldogs find themselves in unfamiliar territory: in second in the South Atlantic Conference with a 9-2 overall record and a 4-1 SAC mark. Carson-Newman, who the Bulldogs play on Friday night, sits atop the standings with an unblemished 5-0 league record.
 
Unsurprisingly, the Bulldogs statistical profile still shows a team that is characteristically productive and efficient offensively and dominant defensively. Wingate leads the SAC in kills per set with 13.63 while ranking second in attack percentage with a .217 clip. They have accumulated an unusually high volume of errors, though, ranking second in the league in attack errors with 226 and third in service miscues with 88. Opposing offenses have been completely choked out by Wingate's front line, which features seven players listed a 6-0 or taller, as the Bulldogs have limited opponents to a .116 attack percentage and 9.76 kills per set.
 
Shelly Stumpff leads the Bulldogs and the SAC in kills per set with 3.68. She has accounted for her SAC-leading 140 kills on a .269 attack percentage while also contributing 3.03 digs per set. Abby Saehler is second in the league with 3.50 kills per set on a .286 clip. Katie Bludau - recently returned from injury - has averaged 2.65 kills per frame.
 
Iris Brewer and Kori Adams have split duties at setter but Brewer has been the no. 1 option at that position for the Bulldogs. She has accumulated 9.85 assists per set with 2.70 digs per frame. Adams has 3.13 assists and 3.18 digs per set. Kimberly Hovey leads the Bulldogs with 5.08 digs per frame.
 
The Lady Railsplitters have never beaten the Bulldogs since the two programs' initial meeting in 2007, as Wingate has compiled a 17-0 all-time record in the series. Lincoln Memorial has come ever so close to securing that first win over Wingate in recent years, though, taking them to five sets in Harrogate in 2012 and 2009. The Lady Railsplitters and Bulldogs were tied at a set apiece in last season's meeting at Mary Mars, but Wingate went on to win sets two and three by scores of 25-12 and 25-17. The Lady Railsplitters hit .113 in that match but limited the Bulldogs to a .150 clip.