HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Railsplitters (10-17) were handed a heartbreaking five-set loss by Alderson Broaddus (5-16) on Saturday afternoon at the DeLoach Center. The loss ended Lincoln Memorial's inaugural 2017 campaign, while the Battlers advanced to the IVA Tournament championship with the win by scores of 25-19, 18-25, 22-25, 25-21, 15-10 win.
Lincoln Memorial carried a 2-1 lead into fourth set, but Alderson Broaddus combined for 19 kills and just two errors over the final two sets to fuel the come-from-behind victory. The Battlers posted a sizzling .727 clip with eight kills and no errors in the decisive fifth frame.
Evan Cory led the Railsplitters with 18 kills on 40 attempts to go along with four digs and five blocks.
Joshua Riblett tallied 15 kills with seven digs, two aces and two blocks. Aside from that duo, no other LMU player finished with more than four kills in the contest.
Ryan Iskandar logged 40 assists while also leading the team with nine digs.
Cory completes his debut season in the Blue and Gray with a program-record 281 kills on a .227 attack percentage, while Riblett led the team in kills per set with 2.92. Iskander racked up a program-record 822 assists and added 159 digs.
Jorge Collazo, who had six digs in the match, compiled a program-record 248 digs this season.
Obenda Besongngem carried the Battlers to victory with a match-high 20 kills on a .444 attack percentage. He was one of three Alderson Broaddus players in double figures, as Adam Glader had 12 with eight errors and Justin Glader finished with 11 on a .304 attack percentage. That trio combined for 43 of the team's 54 kills. Benjamin Bravo had 48 assists, eight digs and five service aces, while Erik Arroyo led the team with nine digs.
Saturday marked the second five-set match of the season between Lincoln Memorial and Alderson Broaddus. The Railsplitters won the first one on January 14 at Mary Mars Gymnasium. The Battlers won the second regular-season meeting between the two teams in four sets on February 10.
Lincoln Memorial was solid on offense, hitting .250 with 46 kills and 18 errors, but Alderson Broaddus was just a bit better, particularly down the stretch. The Battlers had 54 kills and 18 errors in the contest to finish with a .321 attack percentage. Eight of Alderson Broaddus' 18 errors occurred in the third set, which the Railsplitters won 25-22.
Lincoln Memorial accounted for just five kills and four errors (.083 attack percentage) in the fifth set.
