MARS HILL, N.C. – The Lady Railsplitters (3-0) look to remain unbeaten when they invade Stanford Arena to face the Mars Hill Lions (1-2) in the South Atlantic Conference opener on Thursday night. Lincoln Memorial went a perfect 3-0 this past weekend at the LMU Volleyball Tournament to kick off the 2017 campaign, while Mars Hill went 1-2 in that same event, which was hosted in its entirety at Mary Mars Gym.
 
The Basics
 
Thursday, September 7 at Mars Hill – 7 pm
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Quick Hits
 
- The Lady Railsplitters are off to their best start since the 2010 season after dispatching of Lee, King and Erskine this past weekend at Mary Mars Gym as part of the LMU Volleyball Tournament. Lincoln Memorial lost just one set all weekend, dropping the third frame against Lee before sweeping both King and Erskine with relative ease.
 
- In the win over Lee, the Lady Railsplitters rode a balanced offensive effort and an insurmountable block to a four-set win on Friday morning. Kiera Holland (15), Rylee Storms (15) and Lindsey Nartker (11) each reached double-figure kills in the contest, as Lincoln Memorial hit .226 as a unit. Fueled by nine blocks from Tone Gill, the Lady Railsplitters racked up 14 as a team to hold the Flames to a .190 hitting percentage. It marked LMU's first season-opening win since 2010.
 
- The Lady Railsplitters conjured up their best performance of the weekend in the nightcap on Friday, bludgeoning the King Tornado in straight sets by scores of 25-20, 25-16 and 25-12. Lincoln Memorial hit .235 in that contest and held the Tornado to just 28 kills with 28 errors for a .000 attack percentage. Danielle Ged keyed that effort offensively with seven error-free kills.
 
- LMU wasn't at its best against Erskine, but still managed to cruise past the Fleet in straight sets. Despite committing nine service errors and five reception miscues, the Lady Railsplitters hit .286 as a team and held the young Erskine squad to a .083 mark. Holland once again led the charge with 11 kills on a .409 attack percentage.
 
- Holland and junior libero Erica Whiteaker reached major career milestones for the Lady Railsplitters this past weekend. Holland became the 11th player in program history to collect 1,000 career kills, while Whiteaker surpassed the 1,000-dig mark to move to 14th in school history in that category.
 
- The Lady Railsplitters are currently ranked second in the South Atlantic Conference in hitting percentage with a .246 mark, which trails only Wingate's eye-popping .323 clip. In addition to that, Lincoln Memorial leads the conference in blocks per set with 3.00 and is allowing opponents to hit just .106.
 
- With a win on Thursday, the Lady Railsplitters would move to 4-0 for just the second time since the start of the 2008 campaign. The 2010 team was the last to accomplish that feat, and that group went on to finish 23-8 with an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
 
- Holland and Storms are ranked seventh and eighth in the conference in kills per set, respectively. Holland is accounting for 3.20 kills per set, while Storms is contributing 3.00.
 
- The Lady Railsplitters were picked to finish second in the SAC preseason coaches poll after finishing as the regular season and tournament runners-up in 2016 with a program single-season record 17 conference victories.
 
Know the Opponent
 
- Mars Hill had a rough go of it at the season-opening LMU Volleyball Tournament. After blasting Erskine in straight sets on Friday, the Lions suffered a four-set loss to Lee and a heartbreaking five-set defeat to King on Saturday. In the loss to King, the Lions were up 2-1 in the match and had a 24-21 lead in the fourth set before the Tornado rallied back for a 29-27 win. Mars Hill couldn't recover from that loss in the fifth set, falling 15-12 to finish this weekend with a 1-2 record.
 
- The Lions have struggled in all phases offensively through the first three matches of the season, ranking near the bottom of the SAC in kills per set (10.5), attack percentage (.170) and assists per set (9.83). Mars Hill has displayed some grit defensively, though, ranking second in the league in digs per set with 19.75.
 
- Sophomore middle blocker Sally Anne Johnson and junior right side Maddie Spurgeon lead the charge for the Lions offensively. Johnson has accumulated a team-high 2.33 kills per set and 28 total kills on a sizzling .373 attack percentage, while Spurgeon is just off that mark with 2.25 kills per set on a .278 clip. No other player is hitting above .200 for the Lions.
 
- Outside hitters Rebecca Butler and Lauren Hochstetler lead the Lions defensively with 4.58 and 3.75 digs per set, respectively.
 
- Opponents are hitting just .126 against Mars Hill so far this season. That number is largely representative of Erskine's disastrous performance in the season opener, as the Flying Fleet hit -.028 in that match against Mars Hill. Lee hit .176 and King hit .161 against the Lions in the other two matches of the weekend.
 
- The Lions have committed a league-leading 16 ball-handling errors. Senior setter Sara Fahrenbrook is responsible for seven of those miscues.
 
- Mars Hill went 7-15 in South Atlantic Conference play last season to tie with Tusculum for eighth place. The Lions were selected 10th in the preseason SAC coaches poll.
 
Head-to-Head
 
The Lady Railsplitters haven't lost to the Lions since October 2013, reeling off six straight wins in the series since that setback. Three of those six victories lasted just three sets while only one went the distance. Lincoln Memorial – 24-8 in the all-time series – is 9-3 at Mars Hill all-time. The Lady Railsplitters crushed the Lions in straight sets at Stanford Arena 25-19, 25-19, 25-17 last season. LMU also picked up a 3-0 win there in 2015.