HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial University men's volleyball team (5-6) returns home to play just its second match in two weeks Saturday night against Queens (3-10). The Railsplitters last played one week ago at North Greenville in a 3-0 loss. Queens will be playing its third match in two days, as it has a home doubleheader against St. Andrews and Alderson Broaddus on Friday.
 
Saturday serves as the first-ever meeting between these programs. The two teams will meet again in Charlotte on March 23.
 
Schedule/Gameday Links:
 
Saturday, February 24 vs. Queens (8 p.m.) – Live Stats / Video
 
Quick Hits:
 
- The Railsplitters lost to North Greenville by set scores of 16-25, 19-25 and 21-25. The Crusaders led for nearly the entirety of the match and led 32-24 in kills with a .362-.119 edge in attack percentage. North Greenville also committed six fewer attack errors (17-11) and recorded eight service aces to LMU's two. The Crusaders didn't hit below .263 in any set while the Railsplitters never hit above .200.
 
- Evan Cory once again led the Railsplitters in kills with eight but had his second-lowest attack percentage of the season (.100) thanks to six errors. Marcus Molina added five kills while NyJaee Washington pitched in four. AJ Risavy was one off his season low with 19 assists. Pedro Carvalho compiled five total blocks.
 
- Pedro Carvalho leads the nation with 14 solo blocks and is third in blocks per set at 1.306.
 
- Cory has recorded a double-digit kill total in seven of 11 matches and leads the team with 117 kills, 3.25 kills per set (27^th nationally) and 12 service aces. The sophomore from Metairie, Louisiana has led or been tied for the team lead in kills in all but one match. His .323 hitting percentage ranks 26^th nationally.
 
- Risavy is the only other Railsplitter besides Cory and Carvalho to start all 11 matches and appear in all 36 of the team's sets played. The freshman setter has dished out 297 assists and averages 8.25 per set (28^th nationally).
 
- Lincoln Memorial is 5-1 on the season at Mary Mars Gymnasium and 13-6 all-time. Only one home match has extended beyond three sets this season. The Railsplitters are 0-5 playing away from Harrogate on the year and 2-17 in the program's brief history.
 
- Nine of LMU's 11 matches on the season have only lasted three sets. The only games that weren't were a five-set loss at Quincy on February 2 and a four-set home win over Coker. Lincoln Memorial held a 2-0 lead in both matches.
 
- The team has improved its attack percentage from .201 in its inaugural year to .216. However, kills per set are down from 10.2 to 10.06. Digs per set are also down from 8.8 to 7.56. That difference is made up by an increase in blocks per set from 2.0 to 2.47.
 
Notes on Queens:
 
- The Queens men's volleyball team is in its inaugural season.
 
- The Royals play their first home matches since January 19 Friday against St. Andrews and Alderson Broaddus. The team played nine straight road games over that span and is 2-8 overall away from the Levine Center.
 
- Queens most recently fell in straight sets at Mount Olive Saturday by set scores of 17-25, 16-25 and 23-25. Mount Olive hit .231 for the match and held a 42-23 edge in kills while the Royals failed to hit over .100 in any set.
 
- Opponents average over three kills per set more than the Royals (12.5-9.4) and have a 626-470 edge overall. Opponents have hit .215 to Queens' .171. The trio of Tristan Santoyo (75 kills), Jake Dube (74 kills) and Marco Vecellio (73 kills) lead the team offensively.
 
- The Royals have also struggled in the serving category with just 37 aces and have allowed 108. Opponents average 2.16 service aces per set while Queens averages 0.74.
 
- Queens' strongest attribute is blocking, where the team holds a 107.5-91.5 advantage (2.15-1.83 per set). Aleksandar Perisic is second nationally with 1.317 blocks per set.
 
- Conner Nagaki ranks second nationally with 3.0 digs per set.