AIKEN, S.C. -- The fifth-seeded Lady Railsplitters (25-9) were handed a 3-0 loss by the fourth-seeded Armstrong State Pirates (26-7) in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday evening at the Convocation Center in Aiken, S.C. Lincoln Memorial ends its season following the 25-22, 25-18, 25-11 loss, while Armstrong State advances to the semifinals of the Southeast Regional to face either No. 1 USC Aiken or No. 8 Barton on Saturday.
 
The loss closes the curtain on Lincoln Memorial's record-breaking 2016 season. The Lady Railsplitters overtook the 1998, 1999 and 2000 teams for the program's single-season record for wins (25), returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012, won a program-record 17 South Atlantic Conference games and played in the SAC Championship title match for the first time since 2008.
 
Errors ultimately prevented the Lady Railsplitters from having a shot to upset the Pirates, who have played in two of the last three regional championship matches. Lincoln Memorial hit .094 as a team, racking up 36 kills with 24 attack errors. The Lady Railsplitters also had eight reception errors and four service errors.
 
On the other end of the spectrum, Armstrong State played a relatively clean match, posting 37 kills with just 11 errors for a .202 attack percentage. The Pirates had eight service aces, 12 block assists and zero reception errors.
 
All-Southeast Region selection Samantha Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) powered the Lady Railsplitters with 11 kills on a team-leading 27 attempts to go along with nine digs and three assists. Jamie Jehne (Hollywood, Fla.) was the only LMU player aside from Cash with more than five kills, as she posted seven on 17 attempts. Tone Gill (Nashville, Tenn.) and Abby Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) had five kills apiece, while Cash also produced 29 assists and 11 digs. Erica Whiteaker (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) led the Lady Railsplitters with a match-high 18 digs.
 
It was a balanced all-around effort for the Pirates offensively. Rachel Thompson and Raegan Grooms led the team with nine kills apiece, while Raquel Kulak had eight kills and four block assists. Kim Brody collected six kills, while Autumn Mayo had four kills and four blocks. Carley Eiken led all players with 32 assists to go along with 12 digs. Iva Scepanovic paced the Pirates with 17 digs.
 
It was all Lincoln Memorial early in the first set, as the Lady Railsplitters used a 5-0 spurt capped by kills from Abby Cash and Jehne to take a commanding 10-3 lead. However, the Pirates would dominate the next passage with a 14-4 run, taking a 17-14 lead on a block. The Pirates' lead eventually grew to 21-15 on back-to-back kills from Kulak. Lincoln Memorial rallied late but would come up short in the 25-22 loss.
 
The Lady Railsplitters held another early lead in the second set, pulling ahead 6-3 on an Armstrong State attack error. However, the Pirates used a 10-1 flurry to build a commanding 13-7 lead. A kill by Jehne was the only thing that broke up that stretch. The Lady Railsplitters could never quite recover from that, as the Pirates later extended their lead to 21-12 on a kill by Brody. A block on an attack attempt by Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.) ended the set and put Armstrong State ahead 2-0 in the match.
 
The Pirates led from start to finish in the third set, but kills from Jehne and Gill closed the gap to 8-7 early. However, that's as close as it would get, as Armstrong State went on an 11-3 run over the next stretch to assume a 19-10 lead. The Lady Railsplitters would score just one more point, while the Pirates ended the set on a 6-0 run to complete the straight-sets sweep.
 
Quick Hits
-The loss drops Lincoln Memorial to 1-6 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Railsplitters are 0-3 against Armstrong State in postseason play.
-The loss brings the careers of seniors Abby Cash, Jamie Jehne, Liz Brock (Lima, Ohio), Brooke Fleeman (Nashville, Tenn.) and Bristol Snider (Chattanooga, Tenn.) to a close.