HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lady Railsplitters begin a stretch with six of their next seven matches on the road this weekend when they travel to North Carolina for South Atlantic Conference contests against Queens and Wingate. Lincoln Memorial (6-6, 3-5 SAC) will try to snap its three-game losing streak on Friday night versus the Royals (10-4, 5-3 SAC) before heading to Wingate to face the 11-time defending SAC champion Bulldogs (13-0, 8-0 SAC) on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Basics
 
Friday, October 6 at Queens – 7pm
Live Stats
Video
Twitter
 
Saturday, October 7 at Wingate – 2pm
Live Stats
Video
Twitter
 
Quick Hits
 
- The Lady Railsplitters' losing streak hit three last Saturday with a 3-0 loss to the Anderson Trojans at Mary Mars Gym. Lincoln Memorial could not slow down Anderson's offensive attack, which compiled 38 kills on a .281 clip. The Lady Railsplitters failed to reach 20 points in any of the three sets and finished with just 23 kills on a .133 mark.
 
- Lincoln Memorial is hoping to avoid its first four-game losing streak since dropping four consecutive matches from September 12-22, 2015.
 
- In the absence of setter Samantha Cash, who suffered a season-ending injury against Lenoir-Rhyne on September 23, the Lady Railsplitters have implemented a two-setter system with freshman Olivia Brock and junior Danielle Stachura. That tandem combined to hand out 42 helpers against Francis Marion, with Brock posting a career-high 26 assists. Brock and Stachura were much less effective against Anderson with 21 combined assists.
 
- A stifling block and a preposterous start from libero Erica Whiteaker helped the Lady Railsplitters early in the season. Through the team's first nine matches, Lincoln Memorial did not allow a hitting percentage over .200 while three opponents failed to even reach the .100 mark. However, the Lady Railsplitters have surrendered .267, .202 and .281 attack percentages in the past three matches. 
 
- Key offensive weapons Kiera Holland and Rylee Storms will need to rediscover their early-season form to get the Lady Railsplitters back on track. Holland had double-digit kills in nine of the first 10 matches of the season, but has been held to seven and five in the past two. Storms, meanwhile, is looking to break a string of three straight matches with less than 10 kills.
 
- Freshman Alicia Kessler had a career-high 10 kills in the Lady Railsplitters' loss to Francis Marion last Friday.
 
- Lincoln Memorial is 2-3 on the road this season, boasting wins over Mars Hill and Carson-Newman along with losses to Tusculum, Coker and Newberry. LMU's only two five-set matches have been on the road – Mars Hill and Tusculum.
 
Know the Opponents
 
- After making an appearance in the championship match of the 2016 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional, Queens has had a mixed start to the 2017 campaign. The Royals opened the season with five straight wins before dropping four of six matches, including a five-set heartbreaker at Tusculum on September 23. Queens has not lost since then, though, losing just one set total in wins over Catawba, Lenoir-Rhyne and Newberry.
 
- The Royals are currently in fourth place in the SAC standings and one of five teams in the league that is on a winning streak of at least three games.
 
- Queens is a fairly potent offensive team that averages 12.9 kills per set on a .196 attack percentage. The Royals are also an aggressive serving team with a SAC-leading 101 aces and 125 service errors.
 
- Senior outside hitter Rebecca Cochran has filled in nicely for departed All-Southeast Region attacker Meredith Jones, racking up 3.23 kills and 4.23 digs per set while hitting .175. Senior Jessica Raines (2.40) and freshman outside Casey Tarvin (2.23) are also putting down over two kills per set, while Taylor Henry (1.98) and Alex Thompson (1.81) are just shy of that mark.
 
- Queens is 6-1 at home this season. The Royals are averaging 13.19 kills per set and hitting a sizzling .215 inside the DeLoach Center.
 
- Senior setter Sydney Kunz leads the team with 10.63 assists per set. Sophomore Mallory Swarts leads the team with 24 aces, while five other players have double-digit aces.
 
- Wingate is well on its way to claiming its 12th consecutive SAC regular-season title, as the Bulldogs are one of six undefeated teams left in the nation. Wingate has hardly been challenged while racking up a 13-0 record, winning 10 of those contests in straight sets. The Bulldogs have won their last three matches – Mars Hill, Lenoir-Rhyne and Catawba – in 3-0 fashion.
 
- Tusculum posed the most significant threat to Wingate on September 22, winning two of the first three sets before the Bulldogs rallied for 25-22 and 17-15 wins in sets four and five.
 
- Wingate is the class of the SAC offensively, ranking first in kills per set with 15.26, hitting percentage with an absurd .273 clip and assists per set with 14.37.  The Bulldogs have hit above .300 six times this season, including a .374 mark in a 3-0 win over Queens.
 
- Senior outside hitter Katie Bludau leads the league in kills per set with 4.29 while hitting a ridiculous .314. Along with Bludau's prolific production, four other players – Phoebe Havenaar (2.93), Anna Holmquist (2.69), Anne Abernathy (2.30) and Rachael Cecka (2.17) – are also contributing over two kills per set.
 
- Opponents are averaging a paltry 8.98 kills per set on a .096 attack percentage against the Bulldogs this season.
 
- Rachel Alles and Rachel Lods are leading Wingate from the setting position. Alles has produced a team-high 10.74 assists per set, while Lods has 6.37. Kori Adams is back after suffering a season-ending injury in 2016 to lead the Bulldogs with 5.30 digs per set.
 
Head-to-Head
 
- The Lady Railsplitters own a 7-5 edge all-time against Queens, but the Royals have won three of the last four meetings. Lincoln Memorial will be looking to win in Charlotte for the first time since pulling out a 3-1 victory there in 2014. Queens has won its last two home games against the Lady Railsplitters in four sets.
 
- Wingate has utterly dominated Lincoln Memorial to the tune of a 22-1 all-time record in the series. The Lady Railsplitters picked up their first win in the series and snapped a 21-game losing streak to the Bulldogs by grinding out a 3-2 win at Mary Mars Gym last season, but Wingate returned the favor with a 3-0 sweep in the title match of the SAC Championship. In 11 trips to Wingate, the Lady Railsplitters have won just four total sets, though LMU hasn't accomplished that feat since 2009.