HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial University men's volleyball team (7-10) will play its first road matches in nearly a month this weekend when the Railsplitters take on Emmanuel and North Greenville. Lincoln Memorial faces off against the Lions (4-12) at 7 p.m. on Friday in Franklin Springs, Georgia before heading over to Tigerville, South Carolina to challenge the Crusaders (5-11) at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
 
Schedule/Gameday Links:
 
Friday, March 3 at Emmanuel (7pm)
Saturday, March 4 at North Greenville (3pm)
 
Quick Hits:
 
-The Railsplitters completed a 4-2 home stand with an easy-breezy 3-0 win over Bluefield on Tuesday night at Mary Mars Gymnasium. Lincoln Memorial won by scores of 25-19, 25-9 and 25-14 to send the Rams to 0-12 on the season. The Railsplitters hit .313 in that contest while holding the visitors to a -.031 clip, the lowest for an LMU opponent this season.
 
-Joshua Riblett (Torrence, Calif.), Evan Cory (Metairie, La.) and Pedro Carvalho (Sao Paulo, Brazil) are powering the Railsplitters' offensive attack. Riblett has a team-high 2.89 kills per set, while Cory leads the team in total kills with 158 and ranks second in kills per set with 2.43. Carvalho is easily the team's most efficient attacker with a .346 hitting percentage and 2.00 kills per frame.
 
-Lincoln Memorial will be trying to win just its second road match of the inaugural 2017 campaign. The Railsplitters are 1-6 in true road matches and have lost three consecutive road tilts since defeating Bluefield in three sets on January 25. Four of LMU's six road losses have been decided in straight sets.
 
-The Railsplitters are ranked 37th in the nation in attack percentage with a .196 mark, but have surged of late. Lincoln Memorial has hit above .200 in five consecutive matches, including a pair of .300-plus performances in wins over St. Andrews (.310) Bluefield (.313). Prior to this run, the Railsplitters had failed to hit above .200 in four straight appearances.
 
-Cory and Ryan Iskandar (Tempe, Ariz.) both showed their versatility in Tuesday's win over Bluefield. Iskandar, who leads the team in assists and assists per set, produced five kills, 15 assists and a pair of digs, while Cory had five kills, eight assists, four aces and three digs.
 
-Carvalho has hit above .350 in six straight appearances and topped .400 five times over that span. He had four kills without an error on eight swings against Bluefield. Against Campbellsville on February 21, he matched his career-high mark with 11 kills on 19 attempts for a .421 clip.
 
Notes on Emmanuel:
 
-The Lions will be looking to avenge a 3-2 loss to Lincoln Memorial on February 25 at Mary Mars Gym. The Railsplitters won that contest by scores of 25-22, 20-25, 25-16, 23-25 and 15-13.
 
-Since that loss, Emmanuel suffered a 3-1 loss at home to Limestone. The Lions travel to North Greenville on Thursday before returning home to host the Railsplitters on Friday.
 
-In the first meeting with LMU, Max Nua had a match-high 17 kills and a team-best 11 digs. Manuel Melenciano notched 14 kills, nine digs and four blocks, while Ackeem West accounted for 10 kills and three blocks. Don Thompson added nine kills on a .429 clip with four digs.
 
-For the season, West leads the Lions with 159 kills and 2.48 per set. Gilberto Cervantes, who hasn't played the past two matches, is second in both categories with 2.26 kills per set and 122 total. Aleksa Lakic is also averaging over two kills per frame with 2.25. He had six against the Railsplitters.
 
-Emmanuel is ranked third in the nation in digs per set (9.45) and opponent hitting percentage (.183). Stephen Diaz leads the team with 159 digs and 2.52 per set. The Railsplitters hit .262 in the first go-around against Emmanuel and amassed 54 kills.
 
-Emmanuel is 2-5 on its home court this season, but has won two of its last three at the Shaw Athletic Center.
 
Notes on North Greenville:
 
-The Crusaders opened the season with six consecutive losses, but have righted the ship just a bit with wins in five of their last 10 appearances. North Greenville most recently knocked off Erskine on February 28. The Crusaders will try to make it two straight victories on Thursday night when they host Emmanuel.
 
-Matthew McManaway and Aaron Campbell are the bona fide leaders of the NGU attack. McManaway has produced a team-high 153 kills and 2.78 per set, while Campbell has 151 kills with 2.60 per frame. McManaway is hitting .321 for the season, which is far and away the highest figure for a Crusader. Ben Hamsho has tallied 100 kills and 1.72 per set on a .272 clip.
 
-The Crusaders are ranked 36th in the country and ninth in the Conference Carolinas in opponent attack percentage with a .296 mark. North Greenville provides relatively little resistance in front of the net, ranking 39th nationally in blocks per set with 1.62.
 
-Alexander Schinzing has notched 527 of North Greenville's 583 assists this season. He is ranked sixth in the Conference Carolinas in assists per set with 9.09. Dustin King leads the Crusaders and ranks 22nd nationally in digs per set with 2.20.
 
-McManaway has collected at least 10 kills in eight of his 15 appearances this season. He had a season-high 17 kills against Erskine, and that came immediately after the 6-7 middle blocker had 15 kills against Lees-McRae.