BRISTOL, Tenn. – The Lady Railsplitters bounced back from a straight-sets loss to Shorter with a dominant 3-0 win over Virginia-Wise to split on the opening day of the 2016 campaign at the King Invitational on Friday in Bristol, Tenn.
Lincoln Memorial (1-1) will wrap up the King Invitational on Saturday against a pair of region foes, facing Erskine at 12:30 p.m. and King at 5:30. Live stats and video links are available at www.LMURailsplitters.com.
Match One: Shorter 3, Lincoln Memorial 0
The Hawks used an efficient and productive attack to knock off the Lady Railsplitters in straight sets, winning by scores of 25-19, 25-19 and 25-20 in the 2016 season opener.
Shorter produced 54 kills with just 12 errors for an even .300 attack percentage, while Lincoln Memorial managed just 34 kills with 20 miscues for a .110 attack percentage. The Hawks also got a solid effort from their block, racking up two solo blocks and 12 block assists compared to four block assists for the Lady Railsplitters.
Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.) led the Lady Railsplitters' attack with seven kills to go along with 10 digs and a block assist.
Liz Brock (Lima, Ohio),
Lindsey Nartker (New Carlisle, Ohio) and
Samantha Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) had five kills apiece and combined for 30 digs, while
Tone Gill (Nashville, Tenn.) had four kills on only nine attempts.
Abby Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) paired four kills with a match-leading 29 assists and 11 digs.
Bristol Snider (Chattanooga, Tenn.) matched that team-high mark with 11 scoops.
Three hitters combined for 39 of Shorter's 54 kills. Elizabeth Dowd led the way with 15 kills and 12 digs, while Madeline Munroe and Tiffani Estep posted 12 kills apiece. Estep led all players with at least 10 attempts in attack percentage, converting 12 of her 22 tries for a .409 clip. Cheyenne Frady collected 28 assists and 12 digs, while Alli Bell handed out 19 helpers. Cheyenne McLemore led all players with 18 digs.
The Shorter offense was firing on all cylinders in the first set, amassing 22 points via the kill with a .333 attack percentage. The Hawks never trailed in the frame, assuming an early 6-2 lead following an LMU attack error. The Lady Railsplitters closed the gap to 8-7, but Shorter pushed back out to a 15-10 lead after another attack miscue for the Lady Railsplitters. Shorter would eventually extend its lead to 20-13 on a kill from Dowd. The Lady Railsplitters made some noise late with a 4-0 spurt, but a kill from BreAnna Thompson clinched the 25-19 win for the Hawks.
It was all LMU early in the second set, as the Lady Railsplitters used kills from four different players to assume a 7-2 edge. However, the Hawks controlled the next passage of play, using a 12-4 run aided by six LMU attack errors to take a 14-11 lead. The Lady Railsplitters would never lead again in the set, but forced a 16-16 tie on a Madeline Munroe attack error. From there, the Hawks won six of the next seven rallies to build a 22-17 lead. A kill by Dowd and LMU's 10th attack error of the set capped the Hawks' 25-19 win.
The Lady Railsplitters and Hawks traded points early in the third frame, but a quick 4-0 run gave Shorter a four-point cushion. Lincoln Memorial pulled back within one at 10-9 on a kill by Brock, but Shorter answered with another 4-0 flurry to take a 14-9 lead. The deficit grew to 18-12 on a kill by Alicia McClellan. The Lady Railsplitters regained a bit of momentum and closed the deficit to 19-16 on a Shorter service error, but the Hawks would hang on, using two kills from Munroe and another from Estep to finish off the match with a 25-20 win.
Match Two: Lincoln Memorial 3, Virginia-Wise 0
The Lady Railsplitters turned in an absolutely dominant defensive effort, holding the Cavaliers to just 21 kills while forcing 26 errors on 82 attempts for a -.061 attack percentage to cruise to a 25-17, 25-14, 25-11 victory. Lincoln Memorial accumulated 18 block assists in the contest, an effort powered by
Jamie Jehne's (Hollywood, Fla.) six blocks and Sam Cash's four.
On the other side of the net, the Lady Railsplitters were balanced and solid, posting 27 kills on a .212 attack percentage. Sam Cash and Holland led the way with six kills apiece, while Gill and Jehne accounted for five kills each.
Abby Cash collected 16 assists, five service aces, five digs and two blocks, while Sam Cash also led the way in digs with six.
The Lady Railsplitters jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the opening set, but a 7-0 Cavalier run catapulted the visiting team in front 9-4 and prompted LMU to burn a timeout. Following that quick timeout, the Lady Railsplitters would take command of the board, authoring a 16-5 run to assume a 20-14 lead on a kill from Sam Cash. Virginia-Wise whittled the deficit to 20-17, but three attack errors helped the Lady Railsplitters close on a 5-1 run and clinch a 25-18 victory.
Another big run pushed the Lady Railsplitters out to a commanding lead in the second set. With the Cavaliers holding a 6-4 edge following a service ace, Lincoln Memorial ripped off a 10-2 spurt, capped by an
Abby Cash service ace, to pull ahead 14-8. The Cavaliers stayed within striking distance over the next passage of play, but LMU closed with an 8-1 flurry to notch a 25-14 victory.
The Lady Railsplitters led wire-to-wire in the third and final frame, using three-straight kills to assume an 11-3 lead. Virginia-Wise later committed three-consecutive attack errors to increase LMU's cushion to 16-5. UVa-Wise would get a bit back late in the set, but a kill from Jehne followed by another Cavalier attack error ended the set, 25-11, and cinched the match for the Lady Railsplitters.
With the win, Lincoln Memorial improves to 10-2 all-time against Virginia-Wise in the first showdown between the two programs this century.
