HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lady Railsplitters took a set off of Wingate for the first time since 2016, but the 11-time South Atlantic Conference champion Bulldogs ultimately prevailed 3-1 on Saturday afternoon at Mary Mars Gym. Lincoln Memorial (9-6, 5-4 SAC) suffered its first loss in Harrogate since November 2017 while Wingate (16-0, 9-0 SAC) rolled to its 16th straight victory by scores of 25-20, 25-17, 20-25, 25-15.
The Bulldogs produced a 59-43 edge in kills and hit .257 for the match compared to a .167 mark for the Lady Railsplitters, who dropped to 1-26 in the all-time series in defeat.
Alicia Kessler led Lincoln Memorial with 10 kills and had only one error on 22 attempts, which was good for a team-best .409 attack percentage.
Rylee Storms and
Emma Flowers had nine kills apiece, while
Kai Wesemann and
Tone Gill chipped in seven kills apiece.
Emily Walter led the team with 37 assists to go with seven digs, while
Erica Whiteaker had a team-high 23 digs.
Wingate was paced by the duo of Phoebe Havenaar and Hannah Givens, who combined for 25 kills and only three errors. Havenaar led all players with 13 kills on a .400 clip, while Givens had 12 on a .435 mark. Taylor Williams added nine kills, though she was also responsible for eight of the team's 21 errors. Sophie Schaff and Reese Blackley had eight and seven kills, respectively. Rachel Alles posted a double-double with 41 assists and 11 digs, while Kori Adams led all players with 26 digs.
Kills from Adams and Schaff comprised a 5-1 run that gave the Bulldogs an early 13-7 lead in the first set. The Lady Railsplitters kept pace after falling behind and pulled to within three points on five separate occasions, but never got it closer than that. Havenaar eventually put Wingate up 24-17 with a kill and, after a brief 3-0 LMU run, ended the set with another kill.
The Bulldogs took control of the second set early, establishing a 9-3 lead right out of the gate on the back of three straight kills. The Lady Railsplitters were never quite able to recover from that deficit and fell behind 22-12 on yet another Havenaar kill. A kill by Flowers, an ace from Kessler and a Wingate attack error closed the gap to 23-17 late, but the Bulldogs wrapped up the set with a kill from Schaff and a block.
Lincoln Memorial found itself trailing again midway through the third frame, as an Adams kill followed by a Lady Railsplitter attack error put the Bulldogs in front 15-11. Wingate maintained a narrow 19-17 lead on a kill from Givens, but the Lady Railsplitters exploded over the next stretch with a 7-0 run. That run, which gave LMU a 24-19 lead, was powered by two kills from Storms and another from Flowers. Gill closed out the 25-20 victory with a kill, ending the Lady Railsplitters' streak of 14 straight set losses against the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs responded with a vengeance in the fourth frame, though, amassing 16 kills on a match-best .467 attack percentage while holding the Lady Railsplitters to their lowest set hitting percentage of the match (.135).
The set was tied at 7-7 early, but the Bulldogs blew it open with a 10-3 run over the next passage of play. Wingate continued to expand its lead as the set progressed and used kills from Givens and Hanna Knaley to close out the 25-15 match-clinching victory.
Lincoln Memorial is only the sixth team to take a set off the Bulldogs this season, who have lost just seven sets total in 2018. Anderson and Catawba are the only other SAC foes to have accomplished that feat.
The Lady Railsplitters are back in action on Tuesday night when they welcome the rival Carson-Newman Eagles to Mary Mars Gym for a 7 p.m. South Atlantic Conference shootout.
