JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Lady Railsplitters (15-2) defeated Augusta in four sets and swept Lander in straight sets to extend their winning streak to seven games on day one of the SAC/Peach Belt Conference Challenge in Jefferson City, Tenn. on Friday.  
 
With the two wins, Lincoln Memorial is off to its best start this century. The 1998 team was the only other LMU women's volleyball team on record to have just two losses through its first 17 matches, as that squad opened with a 16-2 mark.
 
The Lady Railsplitters wrap up the SAC/PBC Challenge on Saturday, squaring off against Georgia College at 1 p.m. and USC Aiken at 5 p.m. Live stat links for both of those contests are available at www.LMURailsplitters.com.
 
Game One: Lincoln Memorial 3, Augusta 1
 
The Lady Railsplitters displayed both balance and efficiency on offense to remain perfect in the all-time series against Augusta (8-0) while pushing their winning streak to six. Lincoln Memorial pulled off the four-set win by scores of 25-15, 25-20, 21-25 and 29-27.
 
Lincoln Memorial produced 54 kills with 19 errors on just 138 attempts, good for a .250 attack percentage. It marked the second straight match and sixth time this season that the Lady Railsplitters have hit above .250 after they recorded a .253 attack percentage at Brevard last Saturday.
 
Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.), who combined for only eight kills in two matches last weekend, tallied 12 kills to go along with three digs, while Samantha Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) notched her third straight double-digit kill performance with 12 kills on a .321 clip. Cash also added eight assists, two aces, four digs and two blocks. Tone Gill (Nashville, Tenn.) reset her career-high mark for kills with 11 on a mere 16 attempts, good for a massive .562 attack percentage. Liz Brock (Lima, Ohio) chipped in seven kills, while Danielle Ged (Smyrna, Tenn.) and Abby Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) had five kills apiece.
 
Cash also contributed 36 assists and 13 digs, while Erica Whiteaker (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) led the Lady Railsplitters with 18 digs.
 
Augusta accumulated 15 more attack attempts than the Lady Railsplitters, but could not match their offensive output, finishing with 52 kills, 29 errors and a .150 attack percentage.
 
Jordan Bickett led the way for the Jaguars with 12 kills, but committed 10 of the team's 29 errors to account for a .050 attack percentage. Savanna Gonzales notched 10 kills, while Blair Bolton had nine and Madilyn Sanderson and Rachel Windle had six apiece. Sammie Baker and Payton Murchie combined for 40 assists for the Jaguars. Baker led that effort with 21 helpers, while Catherine DeSilvester led the team with 13 digs.
 
The Lady Railsplitters trailed 5-4 early in the first set before taking control of the frame with a 12-1 run, which made it 17-5 in favor of the Blue and Gray. Four different players had kills for Lincoln Memorial during that flurry, which all but iced the set.
 
Augusta was ahead 15-11 midway through the second set, but the Lady Railsplitters used another momentum-shifting run – this time a 7-1 spurt – to burst ahead 18-16 on a kill from Holland. The Jaguars pulled within one point at 21-20 before the Lady Railsplitters reeled off four straight points to clinch the 25-20 victory on back-to-back attack errors by Bickett.
 
The Lady Railsplitters used another big run to assume control of the third set, catapulting ahead 16-14 on the wings of an 8-2 flurry. The Jaguars answered this time around, though, taking a 21-17 lead on an LMU setting error. The Lady Railsplitters fought back and cut the deficit to 22-21 on a Lindsey Nartker (New Carlisle, Ohio) ace, but Augusta avoided the sweep by winning the next three rallies.
 
Lincoln Memorial dominated the first half of the fourth set, taking a 13-5 lead on a kill by Ged, but Augusta steadily chipped away at the lead, fighting back to draw the frame even at 20-20 on a kill by Sanderson. The two teams battled back and forth from there, with Augusta eventually giving themselves three different chances to clinch the set and force a decisive fifth frame. However, the Lady Railsplitters turned away all three of those opportunities and used a kill from Ged and a Jaguars setting error to pull off the hard-fought 29-27 win.
 
Game Two: Lincoln Memorial 3, Lander 0
 
The Lady Railsplitters increased their winning streak to seven games and notched their 15th win of the season with a straight-sets win over the Bearcats. That victory snapped a three-game losing streak against Lander and was the program's first 3-0 win in the series since 2004. The Lady Railsplitters won by scores of 25-15, 25-22 and 25-23.
 
Lincoln Memorial hit .224 as a team, accumulating 36 kills on 98 attempts. Lander, meanwhile, faltered with a .131 attack percentage, producing 34 kills with 20 errors on 107 tries. A strong serve also helped power the Lady Railsplitters to victory, as they notched a season-high 11 aces, their most since recording 12 against Mars Hill in October of last season.
 
Five different players tallied at least five kills for the Lady Railsplitters. Holland led that effort with 10 kills, while Sam Cash had nine kills on a mere 17 attempts for a .471 attack percentage. Jamie Jehne (Hollywood, Fla.) was also ultra-efficient, notching six kills without an error on 15 tries for a .400 clip. Brock and Gill chipped in five kills apiece.
 
Abby Cash collected 26 assists, 11 digs – both match-highs - and tied a match-high mark with three aces. Nartker also matched that effort with three aces. Bristol Snider (Chattanooga, Tenn.) chipped in eight digs and two assists.
 
Halle Dotson paced the Bearcats with a game-high 15 kills, but also committed a game-leading eight errors. Khiani Kelly added seven kills and was the only other Lander player with more than three kills. Sophia Perkins led the way with 19 assists, while Kendall Korte churned out a team-best nine digs.
 
The first set was tightly contested early, with Lincoln Memorial clinging to a slight 10-9 lead following a kill by Reyonia Whipple. However, the Lady Railsplitters would win 11 of the next 13 points to establish a commanding 21-11 lead. Sam Cash had two kills over the stretch, while Abby Cash notched two aces. The Bearcats were unable to overcome that 10-point deficit, as kills from Holland and Jehne clinched the 25-15 win.
 
Lander opened the second set by building a 6-2 lead, but the Lady Railsplitters absolutely dominated the next passage of play, ripping off a 15-4 run to pull ahead 17-10 on a Jehne ace and a Lander attack error. The Bearcats answered with a 7-0 flurry, but LMU never relinquished the lead, pushing back ahead 22-19 on a kill by Holland. Lander pulled within one point on two different occasions down the stretch, but kills from Holland and Brock finished off the 25-22 win.
 
The Lady Railsplitters never trailed in the third set, racing out to a 6-1 lead. The Bearcats fought back and tied the frame at 10-10, but LMU ripped off five unanswered points to take a 15-10 lead on kills from Gill and Brock. The Lady Railsplitters increased their lead to 18-12 later before Lander chipped away and cut the deficit to one point on two separate occasions. However, with LMU holding a narrow 24-23 lead, Gill put down a kill to complete the Lady Railsplitters' straight-sets sweep.