CHARLESTON, W.V. –The Lincoln Memorial University men's volleyball team (11-12) fell in straight sets (25-27, 17-25, 20-25) Saturday afternoon at Charleston (12-8) to split its West Virginia road trip.
 
The Golden Eagles held a 44-29 advantage in kills and hit .252 while LMU was held to a .124 attack percentage. Charleston also held edges in blocks (9-7) and digs (47-35).
 
Ryan Santos (16) and Brandon Greenway (12) accounted for nearly as many kills as the entire LMU team. Santos hit a smoldering .458. Darrin Depellegrini totaled a match-high 11 digs while Anthony Rivera racked up 34 assists.
 
Joshua Riblett led the Railsplitters with eight kills. Jordan Walley and Pedro Carvalho pitched in five apiece. Evan Cory was held to season-low totals of four kills and a .034 hitting percentage. AJ Risavy collected 24 assists.
 
Charleston took the first set 27-25 in a back-and-forth affair. LMU led 22-20 before the Golden Eagles took four of the next five points to play for set point. The Railsplitters then took the next two points to go up 25-24. Charleston finished with three straight points, and Santos clinched the set with his fifth kill. Riblett tallied seven of his eight kills for LMU.
 
The Golden Eagles used a 16-5 run in the second set to turn a 5-3 deficit into a commanding 19-10 lead and cruised from that point to a 25-17 win. Charleston led 14-5 in kills and hit .385 to Lincoln Memorial's -.077. Santos added five more kills.
 
A 12-3 Charleston run in the third set broke a 6-6 tie to put the Golden Eagles up 18-9. LMU used a 6-1 run to cut the deficit to 20-16, but Charleston held on to claim the set 25-20 to sweep the match. The Golden Eagles led 14-8 in kills but only hit .119 for the set. Lincoln Memorial's hitting struggles continued as the team hit just .054. Santos tallied six kills.
 
The Railsplitters next play at Coker at 7 p.m. on Friday night.