JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Lady Railsplitters (5-3, 2-3 SAC) rallied for a 3-1 win over the Carson-Newman Eagles (5-3, 3-2 SAC) in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action on Tuesday night at Holt Fieldhouse. Lincoln Memorial snapped its three-game losing streak by scores of 11-25, 25-14, 26-24 and 25-19 to defeat the rival Eagles for the fourth straight time.
The Lady Railsplitters had an up-and-down offensive performance, amassing 45 kills and 25 errors for a .129 attack percentage. However, Lincoln Memorial came up with the plays when it needed them the most and held the Eagles to below a .050 attack percentage in two of the last three sets. All told, Carson-Newman finished with just 38 kills and a .159 attack percentage that was buoyed by a .457 clip in the opening set.
Lincoln Memorial also compiled 12 service aces in the match, the program's most since recording 13 against Coker in November 2013.
Kiera Holland led all players with 13 kills to go along with 11 digs and four aces, while
Rylee Storms contributed 12 kills, eight digs and six blocks.
Lindsey Nartker added seven kills and
Danielle Ged had five with six blocks.
Samantha Cash racked up 38 assists and 15 digs, while
Erica Whiteaker led the team with 34 digs and five aces.
The Eagles hit a blistering .467 and amassed 14 kills without an error to roll through the Lady Railsplitters in the opening set. Over that same span, Lincoln Memorial accounted for just five kills with six miscues. A couple of Carson-Newman service errors kept the Lady Railsplitters within striking distance, trailing 11-5. However, the Eagles won eight of the next nine rallies to build a commanding 19-6 lead. A kill by Katie Parnell wrapped up Carson-Newman's error-free 25-11 win.
Lincoln Memorial responded by returning the favor in the second set. The Lady Railsplitters recorded six block assists to hold the Eagles to a .033 attack percentage while accumulating 10 kills on a .308 clip on the offensive end. Kills by Storms and Holland helped LMU jump out to a 7-1 lead, which grew to 12-5 on back-to-back aces from Holland. Carson-Newman closed the gap to 13-10 later in the frame, but the Lady Railsplitters closed out the set on a 12-4 run. Four different players registered a kill for LMU during that stretch, led by two from Holland.
The Lady Railsplitters struggled offensively again in the third set and trailed for much of the frame, but used another lockdown defensive effort to storm back to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Lincoln Memorial failed to hit above .100 but held Carson-Newman to just eight kills on a .039 mark. Despite that, the Lady Railsplitters trailed 16-11 following an ace from Emily Harnischfeger. The Eagles continued to hold sway with a 20-15 lead, but the Lady Railsplitters used a 6-1 run paced by two kills and an ace from Holland to tie the set at 21-21. The two teams traded blows after that until back-to-back blocks from Ged and Storms completed the come-from-behind victory, 26-24.
The Lady Railsplitters finished off the victory with their second wire-to-wire win of the match with a one-sided 25-19 triumph in set four. Lincoln Memorial won the first four points of the set before using another 6-0 run to extend the lead to 14-5 later in the set. The Eagles made some noise late and cut the deficit to 19-16 on a kill from Morgan Harlan, but Lincoln Memorial put the set away with three unanswered points. A kill from Storms tidied up the win for the Blue and Gray.
No Carson-Newman player finished with double-digit kills in the contest. Marnie Streeter led the Eagles with nine kills, while Megan Oldenburger had eight. Nobody else finished with more than five for the home team. Anna Patton dished out 15 assists and added 11 digs, while Morgan Ballard led the team with 19 scoops.
With their five-game road trip now in the rearview mirror, the Lady Railsplitters return to the friendly confines of Mary Mars Gymnasium for two weekend SAC matches against Catawba and Lenoir-Rhyne. Lincoln Memorial hosts Catawba at 7 p.m. on Friday before turning around to face L-R at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
