WINGATE, N.C. – The 2018 season came to an end for the Lincoln Memorial women's volleyball team on Thursday afternoon as the second-seeded USC Aiken Pacers rolled to a 25-23, 25-19, 25-22 victory in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional on Thursday afternoon at Cuddy Arena.
Both teams struggled offensively, as Lincoln Memorial (20-10) had 35 kills on a .163 attack percentage compared to 40 kills on a .174 clip for USC Aiken (22-4), but the Pacers made a number of timely runs to advance to the Southeast Regional semifinals on Friday, when they will face Georgia College at 5 p.m.
Lindsey Nartker led the Lady Railsplitters with eight kills to go along with six digs and five blocks, while
Rylee Storms,
Danielle Ged and
Tone Gill had six kills apiece. Gill led all players with eight blocks total and seven block assists.
Alicia Kessler had five kills, while
Kai Wesemann capped the team's offensive output with four.
Emily Walter had 25 assists and nine digs, while
Abby Higgins had seven assists.
Erica Whiteaker secured a team-high 15 digs in her final match as a Lady Railsplitter to end her career with a program-record 2,345. She also finished this season with a single-season program-record 736 scoops.
Alie Smith, Kayla Duggan and Anita Cookey-Gam carried the Pacer attack with 10 kills apiece, while Christine Carroll chipped in eight kills. Smith added 11 digs to finish with a double-double. Ali Kirk (21) and Alli Bell (12) combined for 33 assists, while Rebecca Martinez led all players with 16 digs.
The loss extends Lincoln Memorial's NCAA tournament losing streak to seven, as the Lady Railsplitters fall to 1-7 all-time in NCAA tournament competition.
Lincoln Memorial racked up 15 kills on a blistering .448 attack percentage and led 22-20 late in the opening set, but USC Aiken rallied to take the early lead with a hard-fought 25-23 victory. The Pacers used six service aces to pull off the narrow win. Neither team could get any separation in the early going until a kill from Vialdores put USC Aiken in front 10-7. The Pacers continued to lead until a 4-1 run capped by a kill from Wesemann gave LMU a 14-13 lead. That Lady Railsplitters eventually used a 5-0 scoring run to take the biggest lead by either team in the set at 21-17, but USC Aiken reclaimed the lead with a 6-1 spurt closed off by three straight kills. LMU never led again, as the Pacers ended the set with a kill from Kirk and an ace from Carroll.
Set two was another back-and-forth affair with neither team building a lead larger than four points until the Pacers went on a closing 8-2 run to cruise to a 25-19 victory. After an efficient first set, the Lady Railsplitters accounted for only nine kills on a .026 clip, while USC Aiken mustered 13 kills on a .194 mark. A kill from Storms capped a 3-0 run that put LMU in front 13-9, but the Pacers responded with an 8-2 run over the next passage to assume a 17-15 lead. A kill from Kessler followed by an LMU block tied the set at 17 apiece before the Pacers went on that final run, which was aided by four Lady Railsplitter attack errors.
USC Aiken never trailed in the third set and held off a late rally to complete the straight-set sweep with a 25-22 win to advance to the Southeast Regional semifinals. The Pacers hit only .116 in the set but limited the Lady Railsplitters to a .081 clip to pave the way to victory. USC Aiken jumped out to a 4-1 lead and eventually used a 5-1 run to build a 16-12 lead later in the set. A kill from Duggan and LMU attack error increased the USC Aiken lead to 23-17, but the Lady Railsplitters rattled off a 5-1 spurt over the next passage to trim the deficit to 24-22. However, it was too little too late as a kill from Cookey-Gam thwarted any comeback bid and ended the match.
