SAVANNAH, Ga. -- The Lincoln Memorial volleyball team (0-1) suffered a 3-0 setback to the USC Aiken Pacers (1-0) in the 2015 season opener on Friday night at the Pirate Invitational in Savannah, Ga. The Lady Railsplitters fell by scores of 25-22, 25-23 and 25-17.
 
An inability to efficiently produce offensively and miscues in service reception ultimately cost the Lady Railsplitters the match. Lincoln Memorial attacked at a .129 clip in the contest, as compared to the Pacers' respectable .184 attack percentage. The Lady Railsplitters also committed nine reception errors, while USC Aiken finished with just three.
 
After hitting .167 with 14 kills in the opening set, the Lady Railsplitters' proficiency diminished in the ensuing sets. They compiled a .108 attack percentage with 12 kills in set two before hitting just .080 with eight kills in set three.
 
Liz Broke (Lima, Ohio) - a transfer from Division I Delaware - led LMU with eight kills and eight digs. Senior Jazzy Oates (Franklin, Tenn.) compiled seven kills on a .333 attack percentage, two digs and a pair of block assists. Brock and Oates were the only Lady Railsplitters to finish with more than five kills in the match.
 
Junior setter Abby Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) was solid in the loss, posting a team-leading 27 assists and 14 digs with two kills and two service aces. Casey Mense (Littleton, Colo.) contributed 12 digs and five kills.
 
The Lady Railsplitters used a 6-0 run early in the opening frame to take a 6-2 lead, which increased to 12-7 on an Oates kill. The Pacers rattled off points in nine of the next 11 rallies, though, to take a 16-14 lead. LMU evened the set at 16-16 on a kill by Brooke Fleeman (Nashville, Tenn.), but USC Aiken went on to win the set 25-22, closing with three unanswered points.
 
Three consecutive kills by Brock late in the second set pushed the Lady Railsplitters out to a commanding 23-18 lead, but a kill by Alicia Hines and three LMU attack errors helped the Pacers draw even at 23-23. Back-to-back kills by Ashley Diedrich and Taylor Stratton completed a 7-0 set-ending run and provided USC Aiken with a commanding two sets to none lead.
 
An Oates kill made it 12-12 in the third set, but the Lady Railsplitters would muster just five more points in the set. The Pacers ended the frame with a 5-0 flurry to complete the straight-set victory. Lincoln Memorial finished with nearly as many errors (6) as kills (8) in the set, while USC Aiken hit .321 with 14 kills.
 
Diedrich - a reigning AVCA All-American - led the Pacers with a match-high 11 kills to go along with 15 digs and four block assists. Ashley Lind compiled 10 kills on 16 attempts for a .562 attack percentage. Emily Teelon posted a game-high 33 assists, while Monica Cardona led all players with 19 digs.
 
The Lady Railsplitters dropped their season-opening match for the fifth consecutive year, falling to 0-5 in season openers under head coach Jenny Michael.
 
The Lady Railsplitters complete their weekend in Savannah on Saturday against Erskine and 25th-ranked Armstrong. First serve in the Erskine match is set for 11 a.m., while the Armstrong match tips off at 2:30 p.m. Live stats will be available for Saturday's final match via www.LMURailsplitters.com.