HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lady Railsplitters (4-1, 1-1 SAC) aim to bounce back from their first loss of the season this weekend, traveling to the Palmetto State for South Atlantic Conference contests against the Coker Cobras (4-5, 0-2 SAC) and the Newberry Wolves (4-3, 0-1 SAC). Lincoln Memorial will first venture to Hartsville to face Coker at 7 p.m. on Friday night before turning around quickly to face Newberry at 1 p.m. on Saturday. 
 
The Basics
 
Friday, September 15 at Coker – 7pm
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Saturday, September 16 at Newberry – 1pm
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Quick Hits
 
- The Tusculum Pioneers outhit the Lady Railsplitters 67-53 on Tuesday night in Greeneville, Tenn. to hand Lincoln Memorial a five-set loss. The Lady Railsplitters had no answer for Tusculum's Cassie Born, who racked up 26 kills to go along with 26 digs. The loss ended LMU's three-match winning streak against the rival Pioneers.
 
- Junior libero Erica Whiteaker became the first player in program history and just the third in South Atlantic Conference history to reach 50 digs in a match in that loss at Tusculum, breaking the school record for digs for the third time in her past eight appearances with an absurd 51 scoops. The Kingston Springs, Tenn. native is currently leading the nation in digs per set by a wide margin with 8.40. Lock Haven's Shaye Whiteman is second with 8.
 
- The Lady Railsplitters are ranked second in the SAC and 23rd in the nation in blocks per set with 2.40. Danielle Ged is leading that effort with 1.20 blocks per frame, the fourth-highest mark in the nation. That block has made a noticeable difference statistically, as opponents have accumulated nearly 100 more attacking attempts than the Lady Railsplitters already this season. In the loss at Tusculum, the Pioneers had 24 more attempts and finished with 13 more kills despite hitting just .143.
 
- Kiera Holland and Rylee Storms are ranked seventh and eighth, respectively, in the conference in kills per set. Holland is averaging 3.05 putdowns per set, while Storms is right behind her with 2.90. That tandem combined for 27 of the teams' 53 kills against Tusculum.
 
- Opponents are hitting just .129 against the Lady Railsplitters' vaunted block this season. On the other end of the spectrum, Lincoln Memorial is ranked third in the league in hitting percentage with a .213 clip. Despite that, the Lady Railsplitters are accounting for just 12.1 kills per set, the fifth-highest mark in the SAC.
 
Know the Opponents
 
- Coker enters Friday night's matchup with the Lady Railsplitters having loss four of its last five matches, including the last three. The Cobras are 0-2 in SAC play thanks to a 3-0 loss at Wingate and a 3-1 loss at Queens.
 
- Offense has been hard to come by for the Cobras, who are ranked ninth in the 11-team SAC in kills per set with 11.06 and 10th in hitting percentage at .135 while leading the league in attack errors with an average of 20.1 per match.
 
- The Cobras are a scrappy defensive unit that ranks 20th in the nation in digs per set with 18.84. In spite of that, opponents are still producing a .162 attack percentage against Coker, which is the fourth-highest opponent attack percentage allowed by a SAC program this season.
 
- Four players are averaging over two kills per set for the Cobras: Taylor du Bray (2.59, .160), Madison Bingle (2.28, .099), Annie Mansfield (2.08, .147) and Chloe Attram (2.07, .222). Bingle and du Bray are also pitching in over 3.5 digs per set. Christen Bragg leads the team with 8.97 digs per set to go along with 3.19 digs per frame, while Kara Overholt's 4.44 scoops per set is a team-high mark.
 
- Friday will serve as the home opener for the Cobras, who have played three road matches and six neutral site contests to open the 2017 campaign. Coker went 6-7 at the DeLoach Center last season.
 

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- Newberry opened SAC play on Tuesday night with a 3-0 loss at Wingate. That loss snapped a two-game winning streak that featured wins over Belmont Abbey and Converse. The Wolves failed to record more than 16 points in a single set and hit .000 in that loss to Wingate.
 
- The Wolves have struggled offensively as well, ranking eighth in the league in attack percentage (.153) and seventh in kills per set (11.77). Newberry makes up for that a bit on the defensive end, ranking 11th in the nation in digs per set with 19.54 and sixth in the league in opponent hitting percentage with a .135 clip.
 
- Callie Youngman is in her first season leading the Wolves after taking the place of former head coach Todd Hay, who is now serving as the head coach at Anderson. Youngman was the assistant for the Wolves last season, when Newberry won an NCAA-era record 20 matches.
 
- Sophomore Sidra Triplett leads the Wolves with 2.65 kills per set on a .269 attack percentage, while fellow sophomore Toni-Anne Whitlow is contributing 2.19 kills per frame on a .107 mark. Triplett is the only Wolf with more than 10 blocks this season, leading the team with 19.
 
- Newberry runs a two-setter system led by freshman Taylor Garrison's 5.04 assists per set. Junior Maggie Marsh has added 4.54. It's mostly a team effort defensively with five players averaging over two digs per set, but Kensley Jordan leads the team with 4.46.
 
- The Wolves are 2-2 at home so far this season.
 
Head-to-Head
 
- The Lady Railsplitters have never lost to Coker, compiling an 8-0 all-time record against the Cobras since the teams' first meeting in 2013. Lincoln Memorial has won five of those eight matches in straight sets, including three of the four games that were played in Hartsville.
 
- Lincoln Memorial is 18-8 all-time against Newberry, but the two teams are an even 5-5 since October 2012. Last season, the Lady Railsplitters rolled the Wolves in straight sets in Newberry, but were defeated 3-2 later in the year in Harrogate. Lincoln Memorial then knocked off the Wolves in an epic five-set thriller in the semifinals of the SAC Championship. LMU is 7-4 all-time on the road in the series.