HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lady Railsplitters (6-8, 3-7 SAC) will try to snap their longest losing streak since the 2005 season on Tuesday evening when the Mars Hill Lions (4-9, 3-7 SAC) invade Mary Mars Gym for a South Atlantic Conference clash at 7 p.m.
 
The Basics
 
Tuesday, October 10 vs. Mars Hill – 7pm
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Quick Hits
 
- Lincoln Memorial fell into a tie for ninth place in the SAC standings this past weekend with a 3-2 loss at Queens and a 3-0 loss at league-leading Wingate. The two setbacks pushed the Lady Railsplitters' skid to five games, representing the first five-game losing streak for the women's volleyball program since the end of the 2005 campaign.
 
- In Friday's loss at Queens, the Lady Railsplitters dropped the first two sets before rallying back to force a decisive fifth set. However, the Royals racked up nine kills in the final set to stiff-arm Lincoln Memorial's comeback bid. LMU had 20 block assists and limited the Royals to .130 hitting, but also finished with 30 attack errors and 13 reception errors in the match.
 
- The Lady Railsplitters had no answer for the undefeated Wingate Bulldogs, who hit .397 as a team while holding Lincoln Memorial to a paltry .076 clip to improve to 15-0. The loss dropped LMU to 1-23 all-time against the 11-time defending SAC champions.
 
- Since starting the season 4-0, Lincoln Memorial has lost eight of its last 10 matches. Offensive efficiency has been a key component of that turn of fortunes. After hitting over .200 in the first four matches, the Lady Railsplitters have crested that mark just one time in the past 10 with a .221 clip against Francis Marion on September 29.
 
- Tuesday marks the start of the second half of the SAC schedule. The Lady Railsplitters will play their next four league matches at Mary Mars Gym, welcoming Coker (10/20), Newberry (10/21) and Carson-Newman (10/24) to town over a five-day stretch. All told, LMU will play seven of its last 10 SAC matches at home.
 
- The Lady Railsplitters are hoping to avoid their first six-game losing streak since the 1997 team lost six straight from October 11-18.
 
Know the Opponent
 
- Mars Hill lost eight of the first nine matches of the 2017 campaign, but has since won three of its last four. That surge includes wins over Coker, Newberry and Lenoir-Rhyne.
 
- Despite that, the Lions come to Harrogate looking to rebound from a 3-0 loss at Anderson on Saturday. In that contest, Mars Hill hit just .062 while allowing the second-place Trojans to rack up 48 kills on a ridiculous .372 attack percentage. Maddie Spurgeon led the team with eight kills.
 
- Offense has been hard to come by for the Lions, who are ranked near the bottom of the SAC in kills per set with 11.31 and attack percentage with a .146 clip. Mars Hill is also allowing opponents to hit .176 with 12.96 kills per set.
 
- Spurgeon leads the team with 2.47 kills per set, while Sally Anne Johnson is putting up 2.35 and Rebecca Butler is chipping in 2.02. Johnson is the team's most efficient offensive weapon with a .316 attack percentage. No other Mars Hill play has an attack percentage over .189.
 
- Mars Hill runs a two-setter system led by freshman Sarah Pasour, who has 5.31 assists per set. Senior Sara Fahrenbrook is contributing 4.17. The Lions have committed the fourth-most ball-handling errors with 24 so far this season.
 
- The Lions are a scrappy bunch that leads the SAC with 22.49 digs per set. Butler is picking up a team-best 4.69 digs per set, while Lauren Hochstetler is adding 4.02.
 
- Tuesday will mark just the fourth true road match of the season for Mars Hill, who is 1-2 on the road.
 
Head-to-Head
 
- The Lady Railsplitters are looking to sweep the season series from Mars Hill and improve to 26-8 in the all-time series. Lincoln Memorial has won the last seven head-to-head matches, a stretch that includes three straight-set sweeps.
 
- Lincoln Memorial is 10-2 all-time against Mars Hill at Mary Mars Gym. The Lady Railsplitters have won the last five home matches in the series.
 
- The Lady Railsplitters opened SAC play with a 3-2 win at Mars Hill on September 7. A quartet of players had double-digits kills for Lincoln Memorial, led by 16 from Rylee Storms and 14 from Kiera Holland, to power the victory. Butler paced Mars Hill with 16 kills on a .310 clip.