GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – The Lady Railsplitters will try to complete an unbeaten three-game road trip on Tuesday night when they pay the Tusculum Pioneers a visit for a South Atlantic Conference tilt at 7 p.m.
Lincoln Memorial (12-6, 8-4 SAC) improved to 4-1 in its last five matches and remained in a tie for third place in the SAC standings this past weekend by winning both matches of its Carolina swing at Queens and Catawba. Tusculum (3-14, 1-10 SAC) snapped a 13-game losing streak with a 3-2 win at Catawba on Friday night, but followed that up with a 3-0 loss at Queens Saturday.
The Basics
Tuesday, October 16 at Tusculum – 7pm
Live Stats
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Quick Hits
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Lindsey Nartker had 15 kills and a career-high 24 digs,
Tone Gill added 11 kills and six blocks and Erica Whitekaer piled up 39 digs in the Lady Railsplitters' 3-1 win at Queens on Friday. LMU hit .243 in the match while holding the Royals to a .153 clip.
Rylee Storms added nine kills and 10 digs in the victory.
- The Lady Railsplitters posted a .297 attack percentage – their second-best mark of the season – to cruise past Catawba in straight sets on Saturday afternoon. LMU had 47 kills compared to 34 for the Indians, who hit just .115. Storms led the way with 13 kills, while
Kai Wesemann matched a career-high mark with 11 and Nartker added 10 kills with 12 digs.
- Since losing three of four to end the month of September, the Lady Railsplitters are 4-1 in October with a pair of straight-set victories over Catawba and Coker. LMU is tied with Mars Hill for third place in the SAC standings and trail second-place Anderson by only two games.
- No single player has emerged as the leader of the LMU offensive attack. Instead, a contingent of six players are averaging between 1.93 and 2.72 kills per set. Storms leads that group with 2.72 kills per set and 174 total, while
Emma Flowers is second with 2.60 kills per frame. Nartker and
Alicia Kessler have added 2.20 and 2.10 kills per set, respectively.
- Behind their balanced offensive attack, the Lady Railsplitters are ranked third in the SAC in kills per set with 12.63 and attack percentage with a .190 mark. LMU has also been aided by its conference-leading 1.83 aces per frame.
- The Lady Railsplitters improved to 3-3 on the road this season following their wins at Queens and Catawba this weekend. Prior to that, LMU had lost three straight road matches.
- Freshman setter
Emily Walter is ranked fourth in the SAC with 9.77 assists per set and fifth in total assists with 625. She has recorded 10 double-doubles across 18 appearances this season.
- The Lady Railsplitters are seeking their second four-match winning streak of the season and first since opening the year with consecutive wins over Belmont Abbey, King, Chowan and Emmanuel.
Know the Opponent
- It's been a nightmare season for the Pioneers, who enter Tuesday's matchup alone in last place in the SAC standings. Tusculum opened the season with back-to-back wins over Chowan and Emmanuel, but followed that up with 13 consecutive losses, including eight straight-set defeats.
- Tusculum outlasted Catawba in five sets on Friday night to snap its 13-game losing streak and earn its first SAC victory of the season. Cassie Born and Gabby Gray powered that victory with 16 kills apiece, while Taylor Blythe had 12 kills. Both Born and Blythe had 10 attack errors to account for 20 of the team's 29 overall.
- The Pioneers couldn't build off that win and suffered another 3-0 loss at Queens on Saturday. Tusculum hit just .106 and combined for only 29 kills as a team. Born and Carli Pigza had seven apiece to lead the Pioneers.
- Tusculum is last in the conference in kills per set with 10.63, total kills with 659, attack percentage with a .116 mark, assists per set with 10.10 and service aces with 73. The Pioneers have also allowed opponents to hit .186 and rack up 12.58 kills per set.
- Gray and Born are the only Tusculum players averaging over 1.6 kills per set. Gray leads the team with 2.80 kills per set and 151 total, while Born has 2.54 kills per set on a paltry .099 attack percentage.
- Three different players have given it a go at setter for the Pioneers. Junior Alyssa Rojas leads the way with 346 total assists and 7.69 per set. Freshman Emily Lawless has added 172 total with 5.21 per set.
- Senior libero Melissa Mazur ranks fourth in the conference with 5.69 digs per set and seventh in total digs with 353.
- Tusculum is 2-8 at home this season and hasn't won on its home court since August 31.
Series History
- The all-time series between Lincoln Memorial and Tusculum is dead even at 33-33. The two teams first met in September 1989.
- The Lady Railsplitters have won eight of the last 11 matchups, including a straight-set sweep at Mary Mars Gym on September 18. Storms led LMU with 12 kills on a .324 attack percentage, while Tusculum had just 26 kills with 20 errors in the loss.
- LMU is 17-16 all-time in Greeneville in the series. The Lady Railsplitters lost last season's road meeting in five sets, though, and will be seeking their first road win in the series since 2016.
