FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Lincoln Memorial University men's volleyball team will get its first taste of Division I competition this weekend when the Railsplitters (3-5) travel to Fairfield, Conn. for a pair of matches against Sacred Heart. Lincoln Memorial and the Pioneers (4-1) square off at 7 p.m. on Saturday before playing again at 1 p.m. on Sunday at the William H. Pitt Center.
 
Schedule/Gameday Links
 
Saturday, February 4 at Sacred Heart (7pm) – Video/Live Stats
Sunday, February 5 at Sacred Heart (1pm) – Video/Live Stats
 
Quick Hits:
 
-The Railsplitters make the 750-mile trip to Fairfield, Conn. looking to extend a two-match winning streak, which is the first winning streak of any kind in program history. Lincoln Memorial notched the first sweep in program history with a 3-0 win at Bluefield on January 24 and followed that up with a 3-2 win over Lees-McRae to improve to 2-0 at Mary Mars Gymnasium last Friday.
 
-Joshua Riblett (Torrence, Calif.) and Evan Cory (Metairie, La.) combined for 30 of LMU's 50 kills in that win over the Bobcats last Friday. Riblett tallied a career-high and program-record 16 kills, while Cory pitched in 14 kills, which would have been a program record if not for Riblett's breakout performance. Pedro Carvalho (Sao Paulo, Brazil) also had a nice performance with nine kills and a .364 attack percentage.
 
-First-year head coach Dan Danis noted his focus on defense and passing in the season preview and the Railsplitters have lived up to the expectations of their coach so far. Lincoln Memorial is ranked third in the nation in digs per set with 9.55. Harvard (9.94) and Charleston (9.83) are the only two teams with more. Jorge Collazo (San Juan, Puerto Rico) leads LMU and is ranked eighth in the nation in digs per set with 2.52. He's combined for 31 in his past two matches.
 
-The Railsplitters are holding opponents to a .219 attack percentage this season, which is the 13th-lowest mark in the nation. That is due in large part to a sturdy block that is accounting for 2.02 blocks per frame, the 19th-best mark in the country. LMU's last two opponents have hit .053 and .188, respectively.
 
-Lincoln Memorial can still improve drastically with its offensive efficiency, as the Railsplitters are ranked 37th out of 42 teams in the nation with a .180 cumulative attack percentage. LMU is getting better, though, as they hit a program-best .435 against Bluefield and followed that up by hitting .216 against Lees-McRae.
 
Notes on Sacred Heart:
 
-The Pioneers improved to 4-1 and notched their fourth straight-set sweep of the season on Thursday evening with a convincing win over Alderson Broaddus, who represented the first win in the history of the LMU men's volleyball program. Sacred Heart hosts the Battlers again on Friday night before welcoming the Railsplitters to town on Saturday.
 
-Sacred Heart is hitting a sizzling .339 as a team so far this season, which is the sixth-best mark in the nation. The Pioneers went off for 51 kills on a .389 attack percentage in Thursday's win over the Battlers. That included 21 kills on a .515 clip in a 25-20 win in the second set.
 
-The Pioneers are led by senior right side Christopher DeLucie, who is racking up 3.46 kills per set on a .296 attack percentage. He had 15 kills in Thursday's win over Alderson Broaddus. In addition to DeLucie, Michael Comens is racking up 3.36 kills per set on a .262 attack percentage, while Emerson Waumans (2.53 kills/set) and Doug Dzema (2.00 kills/set) have also been frequent contributors in the attack. Both Noah Ricchetti and Tyler Lee have seen time at setter. Ricchetti leads that tandem with 8.64 assists per set, while Lee has accounted for 8.22 per. Joshua Ayzenberg leads Sacred Heart with 3.42 digs per frame, which leads the country.
 
-Sacred Heart is an aggressive serving team, ranking fourth in the country in aces per set with 1.75. On the other side of that, the Pioneers have committed 69 service errors already this season. Waumans leads SHU with eight aces, while Comens and Lee have five apiece.
 
-The Pioneers' lone loss of the season came against Ball State on January 21. In that match, Ball State went off with 39 kills and just nine errors, while Sacred Heart had 36 kills on a respectable .276 attack percentage.