HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial women's volleyball team's 2018 senior class had a night to remember on Friday. 
 
On a night dedicated to honoring the careers of the Lady Railsplitters' five seniors, that group paved the way in a 25-22, 25-19, 21-25, 25-14 victory over the Mars Hill Lions in front of an amped up Mary Mars Gymnasium crowd. 
 
Erica Whiteaker tied a four-set program record with 47 digs, Kai Weseman had 10 kills, Tone Gill racked up 10 kills and a match-high eight blocks, and Danielle Ged posted six kills and six blocks to lead the way, as Lincoln Memorial (15-7, 11-5 SAC) picked up a pivotal South Atlantic Conference victory while improving to 6-1 over its last seven matches. 
 
The Lady Railsplitters also topped Mars Hill (14-11, 8-9 SAC) for the ninth time in the past 10 meetings while handing the Lions their sixth consecutive loss. 
 
Lindsey Nartker led Lincoln Memorial with a 13-kill, 16-dig double-double, while Emily Walter also produced a double-double with 43 assists and 14 digs. Rylee Storms chipped in nine kills and five digs in the victory. 
 
Mars Hill was paced by Dayanna Barbosa's 13 kills, while Elizabeth Kaeser posted nine kills and led the team with 25 digs. Maddie Spurgeon added eight kills, while Sarah Goddard and Sally Anne Johnson had eight seven kills apiece. Sara Pasour had a double-double with 23 assists and 15 digs. 
 
The Lions were on fire out of the gate, using a slew of kills and LMU attack errors to build a commanding 12-4 lead. But the Lady Railsplitters steadily fought their way back into the set, riding the wave of a raucous Mary Mars crowd and a back line powered by Whiteaker and Jones on a 7-0 run to take a 19-17 lead. However, a service error and back-to-back attack miscues helped Mars Hill reclaim the lead at 20-19. The Lions extended their lead to 22-20 after that, but LMU made the final run, churning out five unanswered points, capped by back-to-back kills from Wesemann, to clinch a thrilling 25-22 victory. 
 
The second set was never in doubt as the Lady Railsplitters carried over the momentum from set one and led from start to finish in a 25-19 victory. A pair of kills from Ged propelled LMU out to an early 6-0 lead, which was extended to 9-2 on back-to-back kills from Nartker. Mars Hill eventually worked their way back and cut the deficit to 18-17 with a 6-1 scoring run, but the Lady Railsplitters closed out the set with a 7-2 run of their own. LMU racked up 15 kills on a .310 clip in the frame. 
 
After falling behind 2-0, Mars Hill kept up the fight and extended the match by snapping a streak of 17 straight set losses with a 25-21 win in the third frame. Kills from Storms and Ged gave the Lady Railsplitters a 10-8 advantage, but the Lions responded with an 8-1 run over the next passage to take the lead once and for all. A kill from Walter closed the gap to 18-17 and forced a Mars Hill timeout, but the Lions scored the first three points after the timeout to all but put the set away. A kill from Barbosa and a block clinched the Mars Hill victory and forced a fourth set. 
 
The fourth set went back and forth early, but LMU used a 6-1 run fueled by three kills from Narkter to pull ahead 10-6. Gill and Walter later combined on a block to extend the lead to 14-8, and the Lady Railsplitters never looked back from there. LMU won eight of the last nine rallies to cap off the four-set win with a 25-14 triumph. Gill was a one-woman wrecking crew during that closing stretch with a pair of blocks and a kill. 
 
The Lady Railsplitters will close out their regular-season home schedule on Saturday afternoon with a 2 p.m. match against Lenoir-Rhyne. Live stats and video links are available at www.lmurailsplitters.com.