HARROGATE, Tenn. – Lincoln Memorial University's men's volleyball team picked up its second win at Mary Mars Gymnasium in less than 24 hours and pulled to .500 for the first time in program history with a straight-set sweep of Belmont Abbey (1-2) Saturday afternoon. The Railsplitters (2-2) never trailed in two of the three sets and dispatched the Crusaders with set wins of 25-16, 25-19 and 25-22.
 
LMU shattered the previous program record for blocks with 16 led by Pedro Carvalho's individual-record 10. Evan Cory hit .500 for the second straight game with 12 kills and just one error. He also contributed six digs and three blocks. Carvalho added seven kills, while Joshua Riblett and Jordan Walley pitched in six apiece. Walley set career highs with the six kills, six digs and three blocks. AJ Risavy dished out 28 of the team's 29 assists and totaled a career-best six blocks.
 
The Railsplitters hit .286 as a team with 34 kills compared to just 12 errors.
 
Belmont Abbey hit just .047 in the match with 30 kills and 26 attack errors. Gavin Schaffer and Liam Maxwell combined for 25 of those kills. Schaffer had a game-high 14 and hit a team-best .381. The rest of the team collectively hit -.063, and no other Crusader had an attack percentage above .000. Maxwell totaled 11 kills but committed 12 errors. He also collected a game-high eight digs. Bryce Sullivan (19) and Brennan Davis (10) accounted for all of the team's assists.
 
Lincoln Memorial opened the first set by taking eight of the first 10 points and 11 of the first 15 courtesy of three Crusader attack errors and two service and setting errors. Belmont Abbey settled down to score five of the next six points and force an LMU timeout, though that would be as close as the team would get, as the Railsplitters went on another 8-2 run to take a commanding 21-12 advantage. The two teams traded points the rest of the way. Cory, Schaffer and Maxwell had four kills apiece.
 
Belmont Abbey led for much of the first half of the second set but could never pull ahead by more than three. The Crusaders held that advantage on five occasions with the last coming at 9-6. The Railsplitters came back to tie the set at 12 apiece before Belmont Abbey took its final lead at 14-12. LMU took the next four points to pull ahead. The Railsplitters held a tenuous 18-17 lead before going on a 5-0 run to pull away and scored seven of the final nine points of the set overall. Belmont Abbey committed 11 errors in the set and hit -.031. Carvalho pitched in on five of LMU's six blocks in the set.
 
LMU took control of the third set immediately by starting on a 6-0 run and led by as much as seven on three occasions. Belmont Abbey tried to make it interesting late by going on a 9-4 run to cut the LMU lead to 24-22, but Cory sealed the match with his 12^th and final kill. The Railsplitters enjoyed their most efficient set with 13 kills and a .308 hitting percentage and made five more blocks.
 
The Railsplitters continue their four-game homestand Friday, January 26 at 7 p.m. against Brewton-Parker back at Mary Mars Gymnasium.