FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga. – The Lincoln Memorial University men's volleyball team (7-8) goes back on the road for weekend matches at Conference Carolinas opponents Emmanuel (7-9) and Erskine (2-11) this weekend. The Railsplitters most recently topped North Greenville in five sets Tuesday at Mary Mars Gymnasium. Emmanuel extended its home win streak to six with a straight-set sweep of Queens on Saturday.
 
Lincoln Memorial beat Emmanuel in straight sets (25-18, 26-24, 25-19) in Harrogate on February 7. Despite never winning a set, Emmanuel totaled more kills with 35 compared to LMU's 33. However, the Lions committed nine more attacking errors (22-13) and hit .153 while the Railsplitters hit .282.
 
Saturday will mark the first-ever meeting between LMU and Erskine.
 
Schedule/Gameday Links:
 
Friday, March 9 at Emmanuel (7 p.m.) – Video
Saturday, March 10 at Erskine (2 p.m.) – Live Stats / Video
 
Quick Hits:
 
- Evan Cory racked up a season-high 19 kills while Pedro Carvalho took part in a program-record 13 blocks as LMU took down North Greenville in five sets (20-25, 25-15, 25-18, 27-29, 8-15) Tuesday night at Mary Mars Gymnasium.
 
- Lincoln Memorial never trailed in kills in any set and led 55-42 overall. The Railsplitters also held the advantage in attack percentage (.256-.117), blocks (19-11), digs (44-37) and service aces (10-6). LMU's 19 blocks set a program record as did the team's 35 block assists.
 
- In addition to tallying the highest kill total for an LMU player in a game this year, Cory pitched in three service aces, five solo blocks and hit .500. Riblett added 11 kills and a career-high seven block assists. Carvaho added eight kills. AJ Risavy dished out a career-high 43 assists while Logan Kerley and Lucas Kerley had 10 digs apiece.
 
- Carvalho is the national in blocks per set at 1.423 and tied for second with 16 solo blocks. He came in second in the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Player of the Month poll for February with 27.01 percent of the vote.
 
- The Railsplitters are third nationally in blocks per set with 2.64. The team also holds opponents to the fifth-lowest hitting percentage at .208.
 
- Cory has recorded a double-digit kill total in nine of 15 matches and leads the team with 165 kills, 3.17 kills per set (33^rd nationally) and 18 service aces. The sophomore from Metairie, Louisiana has led or been tied for the team lead in kills in 13 of 15 matches. His .305 hitting percentage also ranks 30^th nationally.
 
- Risavy is the only other Railsplitter besides Carvalho to start all 15 matches and appear in all 52 of the team's sets played. The freshman setter has dished out 436 assists and averages 8.38 per set (27^th nationally).
 
- Lincoln Memorial is 7-1 on the season at Mary Mars Gymnasium and 15-6 all-time. Only two home matches have extended beyond three sets this season. The Railsplitters are 0-7 playing away from Harrogate on the year and 2-19 in the program's brief history.
 
- The team has improved its attack percentage from .201 in its inaugural year to .217. Kills per set have decreased slightly from 10.2 to 10.1. Digs per set are also down from 8.8 to 7.8. Blocks per set have increased from 2.0 to 2.64.
 
Notes on Emmanuel:
 
- The Lions are 5-2 since losing to Lincoln Memorial on February 7 including 3-2 in Conference Carolinas play. The team is tied for fourth in the conference standings with North Greenville at 4-5.
 
- Emmanuel is 6-1 at home compared to 1-8 on the road. The team lost its home opener to Coker but has won six straight since.
 
- Emmanuel swept Queens in straight sets (25-13, 25-22, 25-19) at home on Saturday. The Lions hit .343 as a team and were led by a trio of players with six kills apiece. The Royals collectively hit just .068. Emmanuel had the edges in service aces 10-3 and blocks 8-0.
 
- Manuel Melenciano is third nationally with .554 service aces per set. The sophomore has 31 total on the year and had a season-high six against Alderson Broaddus.
 
- Three players have totaled over 100 kills on the season and average at least two per set in Don Thompson (132, 2.28 per set), Aleksa Lakic (117, 2.13 per set) and Ackeem West (114, 2.00 per set).
 
- Thompson has the best attack percentage at .423 (11^th nationally) and has totaled at least 10 kills in five of the team's last eight matches.
 
- Emmanuel averages 10.29 kills per set overall but 11.34 at home. The team also hits .288 at home compared to .140 on the road. The Lions average 2.28 service aces per set at home and just 0.97 away.
 
Notes on Erskine:
 
- The Flying Fleet haven't played since losing at North Greenville in five sets on February 28. Erskine struggled offensively and hit under .100 in each of the first four sets and .063 overall. The team committed a season-high 37 attack errors.
 
- Keegan Sullivan led all players with 14 kills while Daniel Hermida added 12. Sullivan also recorded seven blocks while Absalon Williams had six. Matt Friddle dished out 38 assists while Hemida and Antonio Delgado each had nine digs.
 
- Erskine is scheduled to play Brewton-Parker at home on Friday night.
 
- The Flying Fleet are 1-4 at home and 1-5 on the road. The team's only wins were straight-set sweeps at Limestone and home against Alderson Broaddus. Erskine is 1-7 in Conference Carolinas play and stands only ahead of Lees-McRae, who is 0-8. Six of the team's seven conference matches have been played on the road.
 
- Erskine also has three players that have totaled 100 kills on the season. They all average at least 2.25 per set: Hermida (123, 2.80 per set), Kevin Braceros (108, 2.25 per set) and Josh Bragg (100, 2.38 per set). None of the three have hit consistently well as Braceros has the highest attack percentage of the trio at .139.
 
- Erskine has only hit .200 as a unit or better in four of 13 matches but has done so in three of its past four. The team is hitting just .160 overall.