JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Lady Railsplitters (13-2, 10-1 SAC) will step away from South Atlantic Conference play this weekend and gauge where they stand regionally when they travel to Jefferson City, Tenn. to compete in the SAC/Peach Belt Challenge. Lincoln Memorial is set to face four of the Peach Belt Conference's elite in Augusta, Lander, Georgia College and USC Aiken at Holt Fieldhouse, home of the Carson-Newman Eagles. Carson-Newman, Tusculum and Mars Hill will be joining Lincoln Memorial to represent the SAC.
 
Schedule/Game Day Links
 
Friday, October 14 vs. Augusta (Noon) Live Stats
Friday, October 14 vs. Lander (4pm) Live Stats
Saturday, October 15 vs. Georgia College (1pm) Live Stats
Saturday, October 15 vs. USC Aiken (5pm) Live Stats
 
Notes on the Lady Railsplitters:
Preview on the Papa John's Splitter Sound Bites podcast
 
-Lincoln Memorial completed the first half of the SAC schedule with four-set wins over Lenoir-Rhyne and Brevard this past weekend, moving to 10-1 in league play and pushing its winning streak to five games in the process. In the victory at Lenoir-Rhyne, the Lady Railsplitters collected 60 kills, but matched a season-high mark with 27 errors. Samantha Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) had 16 kills, while Danielle Ged (Smyrna, Tenn.) and Liz Brock (Lima, Ohio) tallied 12 kills apiece. Against Brevard, Lincoln Memorial hit .253 as a team and stiff-armed a feisty Tornados' team that hit .217. Brock had 16 kills, while Sam Cash logged 13.
 
-Lincoln Memorial has been looking for consistent offensive production from its collection of middle hitters this season, and Ged's mid-season emergence could bode well for the Lady Railsplitters going forward. After sitting out five of the first seven matches of the year, Ged has accounted for nine kills or more in three of her last four appearances. This past weekend, she hit .310 and .375 in the matches against Lenoir-Rhyne and Brevard while combining for 21 kills. Ged's 12 kills against L-R matched a career-high mark and was the first double-digit kill outing by a middle blocker this season.
 
-The Lady Railsplitters are 3-1 against nonconference opponents this season, as they defeated Virginia-Wise, Erskine and King. Shorter is responsible for Lincoln Memorial's lone nonconference loss, as the Hawks swept the Lady Railsplitters in the season opener.
 
-Lincoln Memorial went 2-3 against Peach Belt Conference foes last season. Over the past two seasons combined, the Lady Railsplitters are 3-4 against the PBC, which is arguably the most competitive league in the Southeast Region.
 
-According to HeroSports.com, the PBC is the 11th-best conference in Division II women's volleyball. The SAC is ranked 16th out of 24 Division II leagues.
 
Notes on Augusta:
 
-The Jaguars enter the weekend sporting a 10-4 overall record with a 5-2 mark in PBC play. Augusta was scheduled to pay visits to Flagler and Armstrong State this past weekend, but those matches were postponed by Hurricane Matthew. Augusta was last in action last Tuesday – a 3-2 loss at home against Montevallo. The Jaguars share two common opponents with the Lady Railsplitters in Catawba and Queens. LMU beat both of those teams, but Augusta lost to both, falling to Catawba in four and Queens in straight sets.
 
-The Jaguars spread the wealth offensively with five different players averaging more than two kills per set. Savanna Gonzales leads the way with 3.04 kills per set on a .237 attack percentage, while Blair Bolton (2.53 kills/set, .297) and Jordan Bickett (2.60 kills/set, .169) have also been productive. Jessica Hedrick and Savanna Roy are chipping in 2.09 and 2.14 kills per set, respectively.
 
-Opponents are hitting .162 against Augusta this season, as the Jaguars are averaging just 1.69 blocks per set. On the other side, the Jaguars are hitting .207, which ranks 80th in the country and fifth in the PBC.
 
Notes on Lander:
 
-The Bearcats head into the SAC/PBC Challenge having won four straight matches while piling up a 14-4 overall record. Lander is a perfect 4-0 against SAC opponents this season, as they beat Lenoir-Rhyne twice while also pulling off relatively easy wins against Catawba and Queens. The Lady Railsplitters are 3-0 against that trio of teams this season.
 
-The Bearcats are led by the formidable duo of Halle Dotson and Khiani Kelly. Dotson is pouring out 3.41 kills per set on a .228 attack percentage. She ranks second in the PBC in attacks per set with 10.13. Meanwhile, Kelly is contributing 2.91 kills per set while hitting .252. Katie Haake and Sophia Perkins are combining for nearly 10.5 assists per set, with Haake leading that pair with 5.35. Kendall Korte leads the team with 4.37 digs per set.
 
-Lander is a stingy defensive unit that ranks 47th nationally and third in the PBC in opponent hitting percentage with a .148 clip. A solid block (1.80 per set) has contributed to that, as has a back line that is ranked 13th nationally in digs per set with 18.81. That has helped the Bearcats overcome an offense that is hitting just .182 this season.
 
Notes on Georgia College:
 
-Georgia College is 8-4 this season, but has lost two of its last three matches entering the weekend. The Bobcats sandwiched a 3-0 win over UNC Pembroke around losses to Augusta and Francis Marion. Like Augusta, Georgia College was slated to travel to Armstrong State and Flagler this past weekend before Hurricane Matthew forced those matches to be postponed.
 
-Taylor Svehla, Ebony Powers, Ashley Savransky and Miller Howard have each piled up 80-plus kills for the Bobcats this season. Svehla leads that quartet with 116 and 2.64 per set on an efficient .300 attack percentage. Powers is averaging a team-best 2.71 kills per frame and hitting .213, while Savransky is putting up 2.32 kills per set. Howard has started just seven of the team's 12 matches, but has racked up 81 kills over 36 sets. Kayla Brockway leads the PBC and ranks ninth nationally in aces per set with 0.59. She has 26 total this season.
 
-The Bobcats are efficient on offense, hitting .208 while producing 12.57 kills per set, the sixth-highest mark in the PBC. Defensively, Georgia College is allowing opponents to hit .166 with a front line that accounts for just 1.59 blocks per set.
 
Notes on USC Aiken:
 
-The defending PBC champion Pacers are hovering near the top of the conference standings again this season with a 6-2 league record and a 13-3 overall mark. USC Aiken has won eight of its last 10 matches, and seven of its last 10 wins have come in straight sets. The Pacers are 4-1 against SAC foes this season, with the lone loss coming in a 3-1 setback against Wingate.
 
-Taylor Stratton, Julia Forster and Shawn Hotson have combined for 565 of USC Aiken's 814 kills this season. Stratton is averaging 3.77 kills per set with a .237 attack percentage, while Forster is close to that with 3.46 kills per frame and a .210 attacking clip. Hotson has put up 2.68 kills per set and hit .256.
 
-USC Aiken is ranked inside the top 10 nationally in assists per set (3rd, 13.86), digs per set (2nd, 20.56) and kills per set (8th, 14.28). In addition to that, the Pacers are ranked 39th in the nation in hitting percentage (.229), 23rd in opponents hitting percentage (.132) and 25th in attacks per set (38.46).
 
Series History:
 
-The Lady Railsplitters are a perfect 7-0 all-time against Augusta, which was formerly known as both GRU Augusta and Augusta State at different times. The two teams last met in 2013, when Lincoln Memorial defeated the Jaguars in four sets in Savannah, Ga. LMU has won four of the seven all-time meetings in straight sets.
 
-Lincoln Memorial and Lander have split the all-time series with five wins apiece, but the Bearcats have won the last three matches, winning in straight sets in 2013 and 2014 before notching a 3-1 win last season in Greenwood, S.C. The Lady Railsplitters will be looking for their first win over Lander since 2011.
 
-Saturday marks the first-ever meeting between Lincoln Memorial and Georgia College.
 
-The Lady Railsplitters are 3-3 all-time against USC Aiken. Lincoln Memorial played the Pacers twice last season, dropping both of those contests in straight sets. In 2013, LMU picked up a 3-2 win at USC Aiken after erasing a two-sets-to-one deficit.