DUE WEST, S.C. – Lincoln Memorial University's men's volleyball team (8-9) fell in five sets (21-25, 25-20, 27-29, 25-21, 12-15) to Erskine (4-11) Saturday afternoon at Belk Arena.
 
Evan Cory recorded 20 kills for the second time in less than 24 hours while Pedro Carvalho added a season-high 11. AJ Risavy set a new career high for the third straight game with 48 assists. Logan Kerley tied an LMU program record with 20 digs.
 
The Railsplitters also tied a program record with 19 total and nine solo blocks. Dimitrios Kyridis set a career high with nine total blocks including three solo. Carvalho had eight with four coming in solo fashion.
 
Lincoln Memorial played in its fourth straight match that extended to five sets.
 
Keegan Sullivan posted 17 kills and hit .433 for the Flying Fleet. Trey Jones added 11 kills, and Kevin Braceros pitched in 10. Griffin Spence dished out 58 assists.
 
Erskine had more kills at 69-54 but LMU had the advantage in blocks (19-6) and service aces (6-3). The Flying Fleet also held edges in attack percentage (.236-.191) and digs (54-47). The teams combined for 59 attack errors with Erskine totaling up 32.
 
Erskine never trailed in the first set though the Railsplitters tied the score on three occasions. With the score tied at 12, the Flying Fleet took five of the next six points. LMU never got closer than two points the rest of the way. Erskine used a 3-0 spurt to play for match point at 24-19. Sullivan clinched the 25-21 set win with a kill. The Flying Fleet led 15-11 in kills and .333-.192 in attack percentage.
 
The teams found themselves tied at 14 to open the second set. Erskine took the next point, but LMU took four straight points and six of the next seven to take a 20-16 lead. Erskine narrowed the score to 22-20, but a Kyridis kill and two Cory service aces clinched the set at 25-20. Cory also tallied five kills. Erskine again had more kills with 14 to LMU's 11, but the Railsplitters led in blocks 5-0. Attack percentage was nearly even (.267-.261) but slightly in Erskine's favor.
 
The Flying Fleet built a 22-18 lead in set three, but the Railsplitters battled back to tie the score at 22. Back-to-back LMU attack errors allowed the Flying Fleet to play for match point, but a Carvalho kill and Cory solo block tied the score back up. After splitting the next six points, back-to-back kills gave Erskine the 29-27 set win. The Flying Fleet totaled 18 kills and hit .190 compared to LMU's 13 kills and .154 hitting percentage. Cory added six more kills while Sullivan had five.
 
Erskine opened the fourth set up 14-7, but the Railsplitters stormed back to tie the score at 18. The Flying Fleet again took the lead at 20-19, but LMU took six of the final seven points to win 25-21. Lincoln Memorial led in kills 14-13 and blocks 6-1. The team also had its best hitting percentage of any set at .324 while Erskine had its worst at .135.
 
LMU and Erskine played to a 7-7 tie before the Flying Fleet took the next four points. The Railsplitters narrowed the deficit to 12-11, but the Flying Fleet took three of the final four points to claim the match with a 15-12 win in the final set. Erskine held a 9-5 edge in kills and hit .333 while LMU hit -.053.
 
The Railsplitters next return home to face Lees-McRae on Friday at 7 p.m. at Mary Mars Gymnasium.