SALISBURY, N.C. – Junior libero Erica Whiteaker reset the program single-season record for digs while Tone Gill and the Lady Railsplitters (12-11, 7-8 SAC) broke the program's single-match record for block assists to move back over the .500 mark with a 25-19, 27-29, 25-23, 25-20 win over the Catawba Indians (3-16, 1-14 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action on Friday night in Goodman Gymnasium.
 
The win pushed Lincoln Memorial to 4-1 in its last five SAC matches, while Catawba's nightmare season continued with its 14th consecutive loss.
 
Whiteaker led all players in the match with 23 digs to surpass Casey Mense for the program record for digs in a season. The Kingston Springs, Tenn. native, who entered the match ranked fifth in the nation in total digs and third in digs per set, now has a SAC-leading 589 digs this season. She is currently just 288 digs away from matching Mense for LMU's career record for digs.
 
Whiteaker wasn't the only defensive star for the Lady Railsplitters, as Gill reset the single-game record with 12 block assists to help the Lady Railsplitters accumulate a program-record 38 block assists as a team. It marked the program's first match with 30-plus block assists since October 2016, while Gill is the first LMU player with at least 10 block assists in a match since Joy Otto posted a then program-record 10 in 2004.  
 
Lindsey Nartker led the Lady Railsplitters on the offensive end with 17 kills to go along with 11 digs, while Kiera Holland racked up 15 kills on a .429 attack percentage. Rylee Storms chipped in eight kills. Those three players also combined for 13 block assists, while Danielle Ged finished right behind Gill with seven. Olivia Brock led all players with a career-high 30 assists.
 
Lincoln Memorial hit .205 as a team and racked up 54 kills while holding Catawba to a .061 mark with 43 kills and 33 errors.
 
Macy Eidenberger led the Indians with 10 kills and seven errors, while Micah Ensor had nine kills with five miscues. Jade Brooks had eight kills, while Kimberly Hurtado and Allie Grubb had seven apiece. Morgan Hester produced 28 assists and Abby Benton led the Indians with 14 digs.
 
The Lady Railsplitters combined for seven blocks to hold the Indians to a -.061 attack percentage in the opening set. Despite that, Catawba held sway throughout much of the early portion of the frame and grabbed a 15-13 lead following a kill from Eidenberger. But LMU took control over the next passage of play, ripping off a 6-1 run to take a 19-16 lead. The Lady Railsplitters had three blocks over that span and never relinquished the lead after that. The Indians kept within striking distance, though, and cut the deficit to 20-19, but Lincoln Memorial finished the set on a 5-0 run powered by two kills from Nartker.
 
The two teams went step for step in the second set and were deadlocked at 12-12 after an Allie Grubb kill. The Lady Railsplitters controlled the next stretch of the set, though, and pushed ahead 18-15 on a kill from Holland. However, the Indians scored seven unanswered points aided by four LMU miscues to storm ahead 22-18. The Lady Railsplitters responded after that, scoring on five straight rallies to get a chance at set point with a 24-23 lead. But Catawba turned back that try for set point and two more after that to keep hope alive. The Indians then used two kills and an ace from Abby Benton to even the match with a 29-27 win.
 
After a back-and-forth start, the Lady Railsplitters and Indians were tied at 14-14 midway through the all-important third set. From there, Lincoln Memorial won six of the next eight rallies – a stretch carried by two kills from Gill – to assume a 20-16 lead. Once again, the Indians answered and scored five straight points to regain the lead at 21-20. The two teams would meet in another tie at 23-23 after that before back-to-back blocks helped the Lady Railsplitters outlast the Indians for a 25-23 win.
 
Catawba controlled the early portion of the fourth set and raced out to a 10-6 lead following a kill from Stevie DeSimone. The Lady Railsplitters settled in after that, though, and used a pair of blocks to jump in front 17-15. Lincoln Memorial never trailed from that point on. The Indians closed the gap to 20-19 on an LMU service error, but the Lady Railsplitters ended the set and the match by scoring five straight points.  
 
The Lady Railsplitters are back in action on Saturday when they pay the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears a visit for a 2 p.m. SAC match in Hickory, N.C.