SALISBURY, N.C. -- The Lady Railsplitters saw their five-match winning streak come to an end and fell back into a tie for first place in the South Atlantic Conference standings in a 3-0 loss at Catawba on Friday night. Lincoln Memorial (22-5, 16-3 SAC) lost to the Indians (14-10, 12-7 SAC), who won their ninth consecutive match at Goodman Gym, by scores of 26-24, 25-22 and 25-23.
 
The Lady Railsplitters produced 46 kills on a .244 attack percentage, but Catawba was a just a bit better, racking up 51 kills on a .255 clip. That was the highest attack percentage by an LMU opponent since Wingate hit .346 in a 3-0 win on September 23 in Wingate, N.C.
 
Samantha Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) paced the Lady Railsplitters with 12 kills on a .321 attack percentage to go along with four digs and two blocks. Liz Brock (Lima, Ohio), Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.) and Jamie Jehne (Hollywood, Fla.) had eight kills apiece, while Brock also chipped in 11 digs. Abby Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) racked up 43 assists and five digs, while Erica Whiteaker (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) led the team with 19 scoops.
 
Three different Catawba players produced at least 10 kills. Alex Hopper led that trio with a game-high 15 kills, while Audrey Hoffman had 12 and McKenzie Garrison contributed 10. Rachel Stanford had 40 assists and six digs, while Meredith Furr led all players with 21 digs.
 
LMU and Catawba went point for point early in the first set, as a kill by Sam Cash drew the set even at 8-8. However, the Indians controlled the next passage of play and took a 15-11 lead on an LMU miscue. Catawba continued to build its lead from there, jumping out to a 21-14 advantage on a kill by Stanford. The Lady Railsplitters trailed 22-16 following a Hopper kill, but fought all the way back and drew it even at 23-23 on back-to-back kills by Holland. However, Catawba would right the ship and finish off the 26-24 victory on an LMU attack error.
 
Kills from Brock and Tone Gill (Nashville, Tenn.) put the Lady Railsplitters ahead 11-7 in the second set. Lincoln Memorial continued to hold a three-point edge at 15-12 following two kills from Holland, but Catawba dominated the next stretch, winning six of the next seven points to build an 18-16 lead on a kill by Garrison. From there, the Lady Railsplitters pulled within one point on two different occasions, but couldn't quite get over the hump. A kill by Garrison clinched Catawba's 25-22 win.
 
The Lady Railsplitters used a 4-0 run to establish a 9-6 lead early in the third set. They were clinging to a 13-11 lead later, but Catawba churned out a 7-2 flurry to take an 18-15 lead on a kill by Allison Benton. Despite fighting back to tie the match on five different occasions, the Lady Railsplitters would never regain the lead. Hoffman wrapped up the Indians' straight-sets win with a kill.
 
Lincoln Memorial lost to Catawba for just the second time in the last 12 meetings, falling to 14-12 in the all-time series. The loss also dropped the Lady Railsplitters into a two-way tie with Wingate for first place in the SAC standings.
 
Next up, the Lady Railsplitters head to Charlotte, N.C. on Saturday to face the Queens Royals in SAC action at 2 p.m.