HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lady Railsplitters (23-7, 17-5 SAC) tidied up the regular season and snapped a three-match losing streak with a 3-0 win over the Brevard Tornados (7-22, 6-16 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action on Saturday afternoon at Mary Mars Gym. Lincoln Memorial, who locked down the No. 2 seed for next week's SAC Championship with the victory, won by scores of 25-17, 25-22 and 25-12.
 
The Lady Railsplitters rebounded from Friday night's offensive letdown with a productive performance against the Tornados, as Lincoln Memorial collected 32 kills with only eight errors for a .250 attack percentage. The Lady Railsplitters also completely stifled the Brevard attack, as the Tornados committed 30 attack miscues and hit just .023 as a unit.
 
Seven different players tallied at least three kills for the Lady Railsplitters. Samantha Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) led that group with seven kills, 15 assists, seven digs and two aces, while Liz Brock (Lima, Ohio) put up six kills and nine digs. Jamie Jehne (Hollywood, Fla.) logged five kills, five digs and two blocks, and Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.) and Kayla Kidney (Chandler, Ariz.) had four kills apiece. Abby Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) played sparingly, but still put up 13 assists and a team-high 11 digs. Erica Whiteaker (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) also added 10 digs and a pair of aces.
 
As a whole, errors plagued the Tornados and ultimately gave away any chance Brevard had of pulling off the upset. Along with its 30 attack errors, Brevard finished with five service errors, five reception errors and three ball-handling miscues.
 
Callie Chappell led all players with 11 kills, while Stephanie Lambert produced seven kills and a pair of digs. Savannah Cox chipped in six kills with a couple of blocks, while Rachel Ruble had five kills. Erin Barr led all players with 28 assists, while Aleksandra Vrvilo posted a match-high 19 digs.
 
It was all LMU early in the first set, as the Lady Railsplitters raced out to a 9-1 lead, a stretch that was aided by seven Brevard miscues. The Tornados later whittled the deficit down to 10-6 on a LMU attack error, but the Lady Railsplitters used an 8-2 flurry to extend their lead back to 18-8 on a pair of Brevard mistakes. The Tornados trimmed some off the lead late, using a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to 23-17. However, a kill by Jehne capped LMU's 25-17 win.
 
The Lady Railsplitters led 5-4 early in the second set, but Brevard went on an 11-3 run over the next passage of play to grab a commanding 15-8 lead. The Tornados were still in the driver's seat late in the set, pulling ahead 19-11 on a kill by Chappell. However, the Lady Railsplitters would absolutely dominate the remainder of the set, finishing with a 14-3 flurry to stun the Tornados. Sam Cash had two kills early during that run, while Brock and Kidney scored the Lady Railsplitters' last two points via the kill to put Lincoln Memorial ahead 2-0 in the match.
 
Brevard was unable to recover from that meltdown at the end of the second set, as the Lady Railsplitters led wire-to-wire in the third and final frame. Four straight Brevard miscues pushed Lincoln Memorial in front 9-4, while another 6-0 spurt extended the Lady Railsplitters' lead to 15-6. Two aces by Whiteaker highlighted that run for LMU. The end result was never in question from there, as kills by Brock and Holland wrapped up LMU's 25-12 match-clinching victory.
 
With the win, Lincoln Memorial is assured to finish no worse than tied for second place in the final South Atlantic Conference standings. The Lady Railsplitters will be the No. 2 seed next week's SAC Championship and will learn their quarterfinal-round opponent following the conclusion of the remainder of Saturday's matches.
 
By earning a top-four seed, the Lady Railsplitters will host their quarterfinal-round match on Tuesday at 7 p.m. inside of Mary Mars Gymnasium, with the winner advancing to the semifinal round, which is being hosted by Wingate University in Wingate, N.C.
 
Stay tuned to www.LMURailsplitters.com for more information regarding the upcoming South Atlantic Conference Championship.
 
Quick Hits
-With the win, Lincoln Memorial improves to 23-0 all-time against Brevard in a series that dates back to the 2000 season.
-The win also moved the Lady Railsplitters one victory away from matching the 1998, 1999 and 2000 teams for the program's single-season record for wins.