MARS HILL, N.C. – The Lady Railsplitters (4-0, 1-0 SAC) won a seesaw, five-set battle over the Mars Hill Lions (1-3, 0-1 SAC) in the South Atlantic Conference opener on Thursday night at Stanford Arena. Lincoln Memorial, who moves to 4-0 overall for the first time since the 2010 season, took the marathon match by scores of 22-25, 25-17, 25-20, 23-25 and 15-7.
 
A number of spectacular individual performances comprised Lincoln Memorial's win, but none was more impressive or vital than junior libero Erica Whiteaker, who broke her own single-match program record by racking up 47 digs. That number is tied for the fifth-most digs in SAC history and the highest number recorded by a SAC player since 2012, as Whiteaker helped the Lady Railsplitters rack up 121 digs in the match, the team's most since the 2003 season.
 
In addition to Whiteaker's defensive brilliance, four players finished with double-digit kills for the Lady Railsplitters, led by Rylee Storms' season-high 16. Kiera Holland accounted for 14 kills and four service aces, while Storms and Holland combined for 34 digs as well. Danielle Ged matched a career-high mark with 12 kills on a .324 attack percentage. Kai Wesemann stepped into a starting role and punched down 11 kills after recording just two through the first three matches of the season.
 
Samantha Cash guided the offense by racking up a career-high 53 assists to go along with 14 digs and a pair of kills.
 
The Lions were led by Rebecca Butler, who matched Storms with 16 kills on a .310 attack percentage, and paired that with 18 digs. Sally Anne Johnson and Maddie Spurgeon produced 11 kills apiece, while Lauren Hochstetler had 10. Elizabeth Kaeser led the team with 27 digs, while Sara Fahrenbrook (28) and Sarah Pasour (24) combined for 52 assists.
 
 Mars Hill rode a productive offensive attack to victory in the opening set, as the Lions accounted for 16 of their 25 points via a kill. The set was deadlocked at 10-10 until the Lions used two kills from Spurgeon to spark a 6-1 run. After two LMU points, Mars Hill rattled off a 5-1 run to build a commanding 21-14 lead. Following a timeout, the Lady Railsplitters ripped off six unanswered points aided by four Mars Hill miscues to close within one at 21-20. However, a bad set and a Hochstetler kill gave the Lions some breathing room. Spurgeon later capped off the 25-22 win with a kill.
 
The Lady Railsplitters turned it around in the second set. After hitting just .109 as a unit in the opening frame, Lincoln Memorial racked up 13 kills on a .333 clip in the second to draw the match even. Over that same span, the Lions mustered just eight kills on a .086 mark. The set was tied at 13-13 until the Lady Railsplitters authored an 8-1 run to take a commanding 21-14 lead on a kill by Ged. Three straight Mars Hill points made the set a little bit tighter, but Lincoln Memorial ended the frame with four straight points to take a 25-17 victory.
 
Mars Hill raced out to an early 6-3 lead in the third set, but the Lady Railsplitters took the lead for good with a 6-0 run powered by a kill and three aces from Holland. Lincoln Memorial later extended its lead to 14-8 following back-to-back setting errors by Abby King. From that point on, the Lions were never able to cut the deficit to less than four points. Holland clinched the 25-20 win and gave the Lady Railsplitters a 2-1 lead with a kill.
 
It was the Lions' turn to answer in the fourth set. Neither team led by more than two points in that frame until Mars Hill fired off a 9-2 run to take a 19-14 lead. Spurgeon, Hochstetler and Butler each had two kills during that flurry for the Lions. Trailing by five, the Lady Railsplitters responded and eventually fought all the way back to take the lead at 23-22 on a kill from Ged. However, that would be the last point of the set for Lincoln Memorial, as a service error and two kills by Butler forced a decisive fifth set.
 
The Lady Railsplitters dominated the fifth set, racking up 10 kills on a .375 attack percentage while limiting the Lions to just four kills on a .077 mark over that same span. Lincoln Memorial never trailed in the set and sprinted out to an 11-4 lead on the back of four kills from Holland and two from Storms. Mars Hill was never able to recover from that early blow, as Wesemann ended things with her 11th kill of the match. 
 
Lincoln Memorial will take a four-day break before returning to action on Tuesday, September 12, heading to Greeneville, Tenn. to take on the Tusculum Pioneers in SAC action beginning at 7 p.m. Live stats and video will be available for that contest at www.LMURailsplitters.com.