AIKEN, S.C. – The fifth-seeded Lady Railsplitters (25-8) are set to play in their first NCAA Tournament since 2012 on Friday evening as they square off against the fourth-seeded Armstrong State Pirates (25-7) at 5 p.m. inside of the USC Aiken Convocation Center in Aiken, S.C. The winner of that contest will advance to the Southeast Regional semifinals to face either No. 1 USC Aiken or No. 8 Barton at 8 p.m. on Saturday. The Southeast Regional championship match will be played at 4 p.m. on Sunday.
 
Game Day Information
 
Friday, December 2 vs. Armstrong State – 5pm at Aiken, S.C.
Live Stats
Video
Southeast Regional tournament central page
Head coach Jenny Michael on the Papa John's Splitter Sound Bites podcast
 
Notes on the Lady Railsplitters:
 
-Lincoln Memorial is back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012, when the Lady Railsplitters also served as the No. 5 seed and faced the Tusculum Pioneers. LMU is looking to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history and the first time since the 2008 season.
 
-The Lady Railsplitters are returning to the court after a nearly two-week layoff. Lincoln Memorial was last in action on Saturday, November 19 when it suffered a 3-0 loss to Wingate in the title match of the South Atlantic Conference Championship. Not much went right for the Lady Railsplitters in that contest as the Bulldogs hit .309 as a team and held Lincoln Memorial to a .121 clip. That was the Lady Railsplitters' second-ever appearance in the SAC Championship title match and first since the 2008 season.
 
-Sisters Abby Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) and Samantha Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) were named to the D2CCA All-Southeast Region second team on Tuesday. That duo was also named to the AVCA All-Southeast Region squad alongside honorable mention selection Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.). Abby Cash is ranked 86th in the country and fifth in the SAC in assists per set with 9.80, while her 1,196 total assists are the 41st-most in the nation and the second-most in the SAC. Sam Cash has accounted for the second-best hitting percentage in the league with a .300 clip while averaging 2.87 kills per set. The Cash sisters and Holland are the first All-Region picks for LMU since 2013. Holland leads the Lady Railsplitters and ranks eighth in the SAC in kills per set with 2.99.
 
-The Lady Railsplitters are one of the best blocking units in the Southeast Regional field as they rank 49th in the country and second among Southeast Regional participants in blocks per set with 2.12. In addition to that, Lincoln Memorial is the third-best offensive unit in terms of efficiency among the Southeast Regional participants with a cumulative .218 attack percentage. Only Wingate (.242) and Armstrong State (.239) have been better in that department.
 
-Holland needs just 21 kills to become the 11th player in program history to record 1,000 career kills. She is currently chasing Nikki Carter, who is 10th on LMU's all-time kills list with 1,006.
 
-Lincoln Memorial is looking to extend its program record for wins. When the Lady Railsplitters defeated Newberry in the SAC Championship semifinals, they overtook the 1998, 1999 and 2000 teams for the program's single-season record for wins.
 
-The Lady Railsplitters are 1-5 all-time in NCAA Tournament play. Lincoln Memorial's lone NCAA Tournament victory came in 2008 when they defeated Carson-Newman before succumbing to Armstrong State in the second round.
 
Notes on the Pirates
 
-Armstrong State finished third in the Peach Belt Conference this season with a 13-5 league mark. Like the Lady Railsplitters, the Pirates played in their conference tournament championship and suffered a 3-2 loss to Flagler in Milledgeville, Ga. Prior to that, Armstrong State had won eight consecutive matches with four of those coming in straight sets.
 
-The Pirates are one of the better offensive teams in the country. Armstrong State ranks 28th nationally and first in the loaded PBC with a .239 cumulative attack percentage. With that, the Pirates have racked up 13.33 kills per set, the 45th-best mark in the nation. In addition to that, ASU has been solid defensively, allowing opponents to hit just .154 this season.
 
-The Pirates have weapons all over the court. Sophomore outside Raegan Grooms is leading the team with 3.38 kills per set on a .234 attack percentage while also chipping in 3.08 digs per set. Sophomore middle Raquel Kulak has accounted for 2.69 kills per set on a .296 attack percentage, while senior outside Kim Brody has produced 2.61 kills per set and hit .223. Senior middle Rachel Thompson (2.34 kills/set, .317) has also been a force for the Pirates offensively.
 
-Sophomore setter Carley Eiken is ranked 19th in the country with 11.23 assists per set. In addition to that, she has accumulated 2.32 digs per set and amassed 57 kills. Junior Iva Scepanovic leads the Pirates with 4.41 digs per set.
 
-The Lady Railsplitters will have to be at their best on serve receive against the Pirates, who rank 15th in the nation with 1.96 aces per set. Armstrong State has piled up the sixth-most total aces in the nation this season with 227. Kristi Vaughn leads the Pirates and ranks 16th in the country in that department with 53.
 
-Armstrong State lost a five-set thriller to Carson-Newman in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The season before that, the Pirates advanced all the way to the Southeast Regional championship game where they were handed a five-set loss by Wingate. Armstrong State also made it to the Sweet 16 in 2014.
 
Series History:
 
-The Lady Railsplitters are 1-6 all-time against Armstrong State dating back to the first meeting between the two squads in 2000. Lincoln Memorial won the most recent meeting, though, upsetting the then 25th-ranked Pirates in five sets in Savannah, Ga. on September 5, 2015.
 
-In that win at Armstrong State in 2015, Liz Brock (Lima, Ohio) powered the Lady Railsplitters with 17 kills while Brooke Fleeman (Nashville, Tenn.) racked up 12 kills. Cash had a monster double-double with 44 assists and 17 digs as the Lady Railsplitters rallied from a 2-1 deficit for their first-ever win against Armstrong State.
 
-Lincoln Memorial and Armstrong State have played twice in the NCAA Tournament. In 2008, the Pirates defeated the Lady Railsplitters in five sets in the Southeast Regional semifinals. The two teams clashed again in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, where the Pirates cruised to a 3-0 victory.