HARROGATE, Tenn. – Lincoln Memorial University's men's volleyball team (9-9) evened its record and improved to 8-1 at Mary Mars Gymnasium with a 3-0 sweep over Lees-McRae (2-14) Friday night. The Railsplitters cruised to set wins of 25-17, 25-17 and 25-15.
 
LMU racked up 37 kills and hit .338. The Bobcats totaled 29 kills and hit .152. The Railsplitters also held advantages in service aces (8-2), blocks (10-6) and digs (25-22).
 
Evan Cory led the way with 11 kills while hitting .474. Joshua Riblett added nine kills. Pedro Carvalho contributed eight kills, six blocks and two service aces. AJ Risavy collected 31 assists.
 
Spencer Graf and Robert Bowling led the Bobcats with eight kills apiece. Chris Woolslayer had a game-high 13 digs.
 
Lees-McRae led for the only time in the first set by taking six of the first 10 points. A pair of 3-0 spurts by LMU and an 8-2 run quickly turned the score into a 19-12 LMU advantage. The two teams mostly traded points the rest of the way as the Railsplitters took the set 25-17. Cory had six of LMU's 15 kills. The Railsplitters also hit .400 for the set. Lees-McRae posted its strongest set with 11 kills and a .286 hitting percentage.
 
The two teams opened set two tied at 12 before Lincoln Memorial took the next two points to take the lead for good. The teams then traded points before LMU closed on a 9-2 run to repeat the first set's 25-17 score. Lees-McRae led 10-8 in kills but hit just .067. The Railsplitters didn't fare too much better at .192 but committed half as many attack errors (8-4). LMU had seven of its 10 blocks in the set.
 
Lincoln Memorial led for the entirety of the third set by taking the first three points and five of the first six. The Bobcats battled back to cut the score to 11-9, but LMU responded with an 8-2 run to take a commanding 19-11 advantage. Another 4-0 spurt set the Railsplitters up to play for match point at 24-13. Lees-McRae took the next two points before Riblett finished the match with a kill. LMU hit a match-high .467 but only led in kills 10-8. The Bobcats hit just .095.
 
Riblett and Marcus Molina, the program's first senior class, were honored before the match for Senior Night.
 
The Railsplitters next take a trip to North Carolina next weekend for rematches with Queens and Belmont Abbey. LMU has beaten both teams in straight sets in Harrogate.