WINGATE, N.C. – The Lincoln Memorial women's volleyball team's road woes at Wingate continued Saturday as the Lady Railsplitters closed out the regular season with a 25-17, 25-9, 32-30 loss at Cuddy Arena. 
 
The loss snaps a four-match winning streak for the Lady Railsplitters (18-8, 14-6 SAC), while Wingate (26-1, 19-1 SAC) captured its 12th outright SAC regular-season title of the past 13 seasons and improved to 27-1 all-time against Lincoln Memorial with the win. It also marked the Lady Railsplitters' 12th consecutive straight-set loss at Wingate, extending a streak that dates to 2010. 
 
Despite the loss, Lincoln Memorial finished in third place in the SAC standings and will host its SAC tournament quarterfinal-round match on Tuesday, November 6 at Mary Mars Gym. 
 
The Bulldogs finished with a 41-33 edge in kills and hit .287 compared to a .093 mark for the Lady Railsplitters. 
 
Kai Wesemann and Tone Gill led Lincoln Memorial with nine kills apiece, while Rylee Storms had eight. No other LMU player had more than three kills. Emily Walter had a double-double with 27 assists and 13 digs, while Erica Whiteaker matched a team-high mark with 13 digs. 
 
Phoebe Havenaar paced Wingate with nine kills on a .571 attack percentage, while Anna Holmquist and Sophie Schaff had eight kills and only two errors apiece. Hannah Givens chipped in six kills and Taylor Williams had five kills. Rachel Alles led all players with 36 assists to go along with eight digs. Kori Adams tied a match-high mark with 13 digs. 
 
The Bulldogs never trailed in the first set, as the Lady Railsplitters mustered only nine kills on a .097 attack percentage to fall 25-17. Kills from Holmquist and Havenaar pushed Wingate out to an early 4-0 lead, while a pair of kills from Williams powered a 7-0 run that extended the Bulldogs' lead to 14-5. Lincoln Memorial scored five unanswered points after that to cut the deficit to 14-10, but the lead wouldn't dip below three points for the remainder of the set. Wingate then closed it out with a 5-0 run fueled by three kills. 
 
The second set was even more lopsided than the first as the Lady Railsplitters had just six kills and committed 10 errors, while Wingate hit a blistering .450 to roll in a 25-9 victory. The two teams were tied at 3-3 until the Bulldogs took control with an 11-1 run. The Lady Railsplitters briefly stopped the bleeding with back-to-back points, but an 8-1 run put the Bulldogs in front 21-7. LMU's 10th attack error of the set ended it and gave Wingate a commanding two sets to none lead. 
 
The Lady Railsplitters showed a ton of fight after falling behind 2-0, but ultimately couldn't extend the match in an epic 32-30 loss in set three. Three consecutive kills from Whiteaker powered a 10-3 run that put Lincoln Memorial in front 19-12. A kill from Danielle Ged kept the Lady Railsplitters in control with a 22-15 lead, but Wingate stormed back with a 9-1 run to take a 24-23 lead. Despite that, Lincoln Memorial hung on and earned two opportunities at set point with 26-25 and 30-29 leads. However, a pair of kills from Havenaar helped the Bulldogs close out the set and the match on a 3-0 run. 
 
The SAC Championship will begin on Tuesday and the Lady Railsplitters will host their quarterfinal-round match in Harrogate at 7 p.m. More information regarding the opponent and ticket information will be available at www.lmurailsplitters.com.