HARROGATE, Tenn. -- The Lady Railsplitters (4-6, 2-5 SAC) started about as well as they could have hoped with a commanding first-set victory but watched as the Wingate Bulldogs (11-2, 6-1 SAC) took the next three sets in succession to suffer a 3-1 setback in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action on Saturday at Mary Mars Gym. Lincoln Memorial dropped the match by scores of 25-15, 18-25, 22-25 and 19-25.
 
Liz Brock (Lima, Ohio) led the Lady Railsplitters with 11 kills on a .207 attack percentage. She was the only LMU player to finish with double-figure kills in the match as Jazzy Oates (Franklin, Tenn.) had eight with a .333 attacking clip, Brooke Fleeman (Nashville, Tenn.) had seven to go along with four digs, and both Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.) and Tone Gill (Nashville, Tenn.) had six kills apiece. Holland, who struggled with her offensive efficiency, committing 10 errors, led the Lady Railsplitters with 18 digs. Abby Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) notched 35 assists, 13 digs and four kills on just nine attempts.
 
The Lady Railsplitters hit .164 as a team, producing 46 kills with 23 attack errors. Most of the Lady Railsplitters' errors were forced by Wingate, who finished the match with 22 block assists. The Bulldogs attacked at a .190 rate, accumulating 58 kills with 28 errors.
 
Lincoln Memorial came out like gangbusters in the opening set, amassing 15 kills on a .400 attack percentage while holding the Bulldogs to 10 kills and a paltry .026 hitting percentage. The Lady Railsplitters found themselves leading 12-7 after a Wingate miscue, and they quickly extended their advantage to 16-9 following a kill by Gill and another error by the Bulldogs. Wingate trimmed the deficit to 16-11 with a couple of points, but Lincoln Memorial scored four unanswered points to take a commanding 20-11 lead. The Bulldogs won four of the next five rallies to make it 21-15 before the Lady Railsplitters ended the set on a 4-0 spurt, capped by Cash's kill.
 
The Lady Railsplitters erased an early 4-0 deficit to tie the second set at 5-5, but the Bulldogs used a 9-1 rally to push ahead 14-6. Four straight LMU attack errors kick-started that Wingate run, which was punctuated by a kill from Iris Brewer. The Lady Railsplitters regrouped and fought back to trim the Bulldogs' lead to 19-15, but Wingate won six of the next nine rallies to even the match with a 25-18 victory.
 
A couple of runs at the tail end of the third set prevented the Lady Railsplitters from possibly grabbing a 2-1 lead. Lincoln Memorial scored three unanswered points and took a 12-10 lead at the midway point of the frame, forcing a Wingate timeout. Coming out of that 60-second break, the Bulldogs flipped the momentum by taking the point in seven of the next nine rallies to grab a 17-14 lead. Kills by Brock and Gill pulled LMU to within one point at 17-16, but the Bulldogs used a 5-0 scoring run, aided by four consecutive attack errors by the home team, to take a 22-16 lead. That run ended up being the difference in the set as Wingate held on for a narrow 25-22 win after committing back-to-back miscues cut the score to 24-22.
 
The Lady Railsplitters led the fourth set 7-6 after a kill by Holland, but the Bulldogs used a 4-0 spurt to take the lead for good. Lincoln Memorial closed the gap to 16-13 later in the set with an Oates kill. Wingate responded by scoring on the next five rallies to make it 21-13. The Lady Railsplitters chipped away at the deficit late and fended off three straight match points until the Bulldogs clinched it 25-19 with a kill by Oakley Attaway.
 
Lincoln Memorial falls to 0-18 all-time against the Bulldogs, who have won nine consecutive South Atlantic Conference regular season and tournament titles. It marked the ninth time in the nine all-time meetings between the two teams at Mary Mars that the Lady Railsplitters took at least one set from Wingate.
 
After being held below a .100 attack percentage in the opening set, the Bulldogs hit .176, .211 and .319 in the subsequent sets. Shelly Stumpff led all players with 17 kills to go along with 13 digs. Oakley Attaway had 13 kills, while Abby Saehler posted 12 kills, seven digs and six block assists. Iris Brewer collected 47 assists and 11 digs. Kimberly Hovey matched the game-high mark with 17 digs.
 
Next up, the Lady Railsplitters host the third leg of a five-match homestand when they welcome the Anderson Trojans to Mary Mars Gym for a 7 p.m. match on Friday, October 2.