BRISTOL, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial volleyball team opens the 2016 campaign this weekend, heading to Bristol, Tenn. for a quartet of NCAA Division II showdowns in the King Invitational. On Friday, the Lady Railsplitters square off against Shorter at 10 a.m. and Virginia-Wise at 3 p.m. before wrapping things up against Erskine and King on Saturday.   
 
Schedule/Game Day Links
King Invitational Tournament Central
 
Friday, September 2 vs. Shorter (10am)
Friday, September 2 vs. Virginia-Wise (3pm)
Saturday, September 3 vs. Erskine (12:30pm)
Saturday, September 3 at King (5:30pm)
 
Notes on the Lady Railsplitters:
Preview with Coach Michael on the Papa John's Splitter Sound Bites podcast
 
-The Lady Railsplitters look to build off of a strong finish to the 2015 campaign and carry that over into the 2016 season. Lincoln Memorial finished with a 16-14 overall mark and tied for fourth place in the South Atlantic Conference standings last season, thanks in large part to a closing stretch that saw them win six of their last eight regular-season contests. The Lady Railsplitters were predicted to improve this season, ranking third in the SAC preseason coaches poll, which was released on Tuesday.
-Lincoln Memorial returns six of its top seven players in terms of total kills off of last season's team. Seniors Liz Brock (Lima, Ohio) and Brooke Fleeman (Nashville, Tenn.) led the Lady Railsplitters with 286 kills, while preseason All-SAC selection Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.) posted 282 kills with a team-leading 2.59 per set. Sophomore middle blocker Danielle Ged (Smyrna, Tenn.) also looks to build off of a strong debut season in which she accumulated 138 kills and 51 blocks.
-Head coach Jenny Michael enters the 2016 campaign needing seven wins to reach the 100-win mark. The sixth-year head coach is 93-63 in her tenure with the Lady Railsplitters.
-Senior setter Abby Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) begins her final season in the Blue and Gray aiming to cement her legacy as one of the best at her position in program history. Last season, Cash earned All-SAC honorable mention plaudits while racking up 1,088 assists, 9.63 per set, 375 digs with 3.32 per set, and 71 kills. Through three seasons, Cash ranks fifth in program history with 2,881 assists. If she's able to replicate last season's effort, she will finish her career ranked second all-time in career assists.
-The Lady Railsplitters went 4-4 outside of South Atlantic Conference play last season. That's nearly identical to their mark during the 2014 campaign, when they went 4-5 against nonconference opponents.  
 
Notes on Shorter:
 
-The Hawks should provide a stern test for the Lady Railsplitters, as they are coming off of a 2015 season in which they went 17-11 overall and finished fourth in the challenging Gulf South Conference with a 14-6 mark.
-Shorter returns its top two kill producers from last season in two-time All-GSC first team pick Elizabeth Dowd and junior Tiffani Estep. Dowd collected 287 kills last season while ranking second on the team with 353 digs. Estep, meanwhile, paced the Hawks with a .275 attack percentage and 88 blocks while racking up 219 kills. The Hawks also return junior libero Cheyenne McLemore, who led Shorter with 465 scoops last season.
-The Hawks will be breaking in five newcomers this weekend. Setter Alli Bell and outside hitter Annie Homan are expected to make the most immediate contributions.
-The Lady Railsplitters will have to be locked in at serve receive against Shorter, who led the GSC and ranked 14th nationally in aces per set last season with 1.99. All told, the Hawks racked up 203 service aces in 2015.
 
Notes on Virginia-Wise:
 
 -Virginia-Wise is a program on the rise, as the Cavaliers posted a 15-17 record last season, reaching the 15-win mark for the first time since 2007. UVa-Wise finished 10-6 in Mountain East Conference play, home of the defending Division II National Champions, Wheeling Jesuit.
-The Cavaliers are a veteran bunch, as they will be led by a roster that includes six seniors. Among that group is outside hitter Karley Allen, a two-time All-MEC first team selection that led the league in five statistical categories last season. She enters the 2016 campaign ranked third all-time at UVa-Wise in kills with 1,290 and fourth in digs with 1,130. Sophomore Amanda Auxier should also be a factor in the match, as she was an All-MEC honorable mention selection after posting the 10th-most blocks in the MEC last season.
-Despite Auxier's presence, the Lady Railsplitters should have their way on offense, as the Cavaliers ranked 218th in the country last season in blocks per set with 1.51 while allowing opponents to post a .184 attack percentage.
 
Notes on Erskine:
 
-Saturday's opener should provide another tremendous challenge for the Lady Railsplitters, as Erskine enters the 2016 campaign following the best season in program history. The Flying Fleet tallied a program-record 23 wins, including a nearly-flawless 15-1 mark in Conference Carolinas play. Erskine won the CC regular-season and tournament championships before going on to defeat top-seeded USC Aiken in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
-The Flying Fleet graduated three-time All-Conference Carolinas middle Kelly Sullivan, but return nearly everybody else that played a role in last season's historic run. Senior setter Kristen Dodge and senior libero Kendall Kirk highlight that group of returning talent. Dodge was an All-CC first team pick in 2015 after setting a school record with 10.77 assists per set. Kirk was the league's Defensive Player of the Year after racking up 5.47 digs per set and 591 total digs, ranking 50th in the nation in that department.
-In addition to that duo, the Flying Fleet bring back reigning CC Freshman of the Year Payton Duncan, a 5-9 outside hitter who led Erskine with 318 kills while accumulating 342 digs in 2015.
 
Notes on King:
 
-The Tornado turned in a solid 2015 campaign, posting a 19-13 record while winning the Conference Carolinas' north division crown. King was selected to finish fourth in the Conference Carolinas preseason coaches poll.
-King's roster was ravaged by graduation, as the Tornado lost four of their top five kills producers off of last season's team with the departure of Lauren Willoughby, Ashleigh Manke, Grace Underwood and Sarah Collins. Senior middle blocker Ashton Beckner and junior defensive specialist Amy Serowski are the only key returners for the Tornado. Beckner had 177 kills on a .273 attack percentage to go along with 43 blocks last season, while Serowski led the team with 486 digs and 40 service aces.
-King brought in eight new players in the offseason to pair alongside its five letter winners returning from the 2015 campaign.
 
Series History:
 
-The one and only meeting all-time between Shorter and Lincoln Memorial came at the start of the 2013 campaign, when the Hawks captured a season-opening 3-0 win in Savannah, Ga. The Lady Railsplitters hit .140 as a team while Shorter compiled a .303 attack percentage.
-Friday's match against Virginia-Wise will be the first for Lincoln Memorial this century. The Lady Railsplitters are 9-2 all-time against the Cavaliers, but the two teams haven't played since LMU drubbed UVa-Wise 3-0 during the 1999 season in Greeneville, Tenn. The Lady Railsplitters haven't lost to Virginia-Wise since 1996.
-The Lady Railsplitters tangled with Erskine for the first time in program history on September 5 of last season, capturing a 3-0 win in Savannah. LMU struggled in the attacking front with an inefficient .127 hitting percentage, but held the Flying Fleet to a .033 attack percentage while forcing 28 errors. Fleeman led LMU with 12 kills on a .458 attack percentage in the straight-sets sweep.
-Lincoln Memorial is 6-1 all-time against King with five straight wins in the series. The Lady Railsplitters last lost to the Tornado in September, 1997, falling 3-0 in Jefferson City. In the most recent meeting, the Lady Railsplitters came from two-sets down to defeat the Tornado in Greeneville during the 2014 campaign.