HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lady Railsplitters (13-12, 8-9 SAC) shut down the Tusculum attack in a dominant 25-19, 25-19, 25-20 win over the Pioneers (14-13, 9-8 SAC) at Mary Mars Gymnasium on Halloween night.
 
Lincoln Memorial racked up 24 block assists – the second-most in a 3-0 match in program history - to limit the Pioneers to a paltry .039 attack percentage. On the other side, Tusculum was unable to produce even a single block as the Lady Railsplitters hit .202. The Lady Railsplitters' defensive brilliance was most apparent in their effort slowing down Tusculum's leading attacker Cassie Born, who finished with just six kills and eight errors.
 
Kiera Holland paced Lincoln Memorial with eight kills, while Rylee Storms added six. Danielle Ged chipped in five kills with a .455 attack percentage to go along with six blocks. Lindsey Nartker, Tone Gill and Alicia Kessler contributed four kills apiece. Gill led all players with eight blocks. Olivia Brock led the team with 14 assists, while Erica Whiteaker had 22 digs and three aces.
 
Laryssa Welch was the most impactful player for Tusculum with nine kills and six digs. Sabrina Schleuger had seven kills and five errors, while Shannon Murphy finished with five kills, 26 assists and five digs. Melissa Mazur led the team with 20 digs.
 
The Lady Railsplitters were all over the Pioneers early in the first set but had to withstand a late run to finish it off. Thanks to a rough offensive start for Tusculum, who finished with a .059 attack percentage in the frame, Lincoln Memorial raced out to a commanding 17-7 lead. However, the Pioneers steadily chipped away at the lead from that point on, using a 4-0 flurry to close the gap to 22-19. But a service error halted that run and erased all of the momentum the Pioneers had built. An ace by Gill and a block from Ged and Kessler completed the Lady Railsplitters' 25-19 win.
 
Lincoln Memorial got off to another fast start in set two and found it much easier to close out the set this time around. Five kills helped the Lady Railsplitters race out to a 9-1 lead, and Lincoln Memorial later pushed it to 13-3 on a kill by Kessler. A 4-2 Tusculum spurt cut the lead to 20-14 later in the set, but the Lady Railsplitters kept it from getting any closer, using kills from Gill and Nartker to cap another 25-19 win.
 
The third set was far and away the most competitive of the match with 11 ties and four lead changes between the two teams. Lincoln Memorial trailed 11-9 after a serving error, but took control of the frame with an 8-2 run capped by three straight Tusculum attack errors. The Pioneers fought back after that and tied it up at 18-18 on a kill by Schleuger. However, the Lady Railsplitters closed out the set on a 7-2 run to dust off the straight-set sweep.
 
The Lady Railsplitters are back in action on Saturday when they pay the Anderson Trojans a visit for a 2 p.m. South Atlantic Conference match.