HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Lady Railsplitters bounced back from their first SAC loss of the season with a straight-sets walloping of the Coker Cobras in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action on Saturday afternoon in Hartsville, S.C. Lincoln Memorial won by scores of 25-14, 25-14 and 26-24.
The Lady Railsplitters (9-2, 6-1 SAC) played a clean match overall, collecting 48 kills on a .258 attack percentage to officially turn the page on Friday night's straight-sets loss at Wingate, which snapped an eight-game winning streak. Lincoln Memorial limited the host Cobras (7-5, 1-5 SAC) to only 26 kills and a dismal .048 attack percentage to improve to 7-0 in the all-time series against Coker.
Senior outside hitter
Liz Brock (Lima, Ohio) led the charge for the Lady Railsplitters with 14 kills on a .333 attack percentage to go along with 17 digs.
Danielle Ged (Smyrna, Tenn.) matched her season-high mark with nine kills while hitting .421, while
Samantha Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) had nine kills, six assists and four digs.
Tone Gill (Nashville, Tenn.) chipped in six kills. Senior
Abby Cash (New Carlisle, Ohio) amassed 35 assists and 11 digs, while
Erica Whiteaker (Kingston Springs, Tenn.) and
Kiera Holland (Columbia, S.C.) had 15 digs apiece.
It was all Lady Railsplitters in the opening set as Lincoln Memorial collected 18 of its 25 points via the kill, while Coker put just seven kills down. Despite that lopsided final tally, it was pretty tight midway through with the Lady Railsplitters holding a 16-13 lead following a Megan Hardy kill. However, Lincoln Memorial wrapped up the set on a 9-1 run paced by five kills to clinch the 25-14 victory.
The Lady Railsplitters' offensive production waned a bit in the second set with 14 kills on a .257 attack percentage, but Coker was much worse, collecting a meager four kills while committing eight errors. Lincoln Memorial held a narrow 9-7 edge following a setting miscue, but followed that up with a 7-0 run that increased the lead to 16-7. Brock had four kills over that spurt to carry the torch and give the Lady Railsplitters a commanding lead. The Cobras later used a 5-0 run to pull within four at 19-15, but LMU ended the set with a 6-0 run to clinch the set.
The third and final set was the most tightly contested of the afternoon with 10 combined ties. The Cobras led 19-16 late in the frame, but a 3-0 LMU spurt evened the set at 19-19. Coker answered with three straight points, capped by back-to-back LMU attack errors, to take a 22-19 lead, but the Lady Railsplitters fought back to tie it at 22-22. Kills from Arianne Jewell and Christen Bragg gave the Cobras two chances at set point with a 24-22 lead, but two kills from Sam Cash, a Whiteaker service ace and a kill from
Lindsey Nartker (New Carlisle, Ohio) comprised a 4-0 closing run for the Lady Railsplitters, which ended the 26-24 match-clinching victory.
Bragg led the Cobras with six kills, while Alexis Berles had five and Regan Kennen and Megan Hardy had four apiece. Bragg also led Coker with 14 assists while chipping in 10 digs. Kara Overholt and Taylor du Bray compiled a team-high 11 digs apiece.
With nine wins through 11 games, the Lady Railsplitters are off to their best start since the 2011 team opened at 11-2.
The Lady Railsplitters are back in action on Friday, September 30, when they welcome the Catawba Indians to Mary Mars Gymnasium for a 7 p.m. SAC duel. Live stats and video links will be available at www.LMURailsplitters.com.
Quick Hits
-Holland, the Lady Railsplitters' kill leader, had a season-low four kills on just 14 attack attempts.
-Lincoln Memorial has now swept Coker in four of the seven all-time meetings in the series. The Cobras picked up just their third-ever SAC victory on Friday night with a five-set win over Carson-Newman.
