PHILIPPI, W.V. –The Lincoln Memorial University men's volleyball team concludes its season Friday and Saturday at the Independent Volleyball Association Championship Tournament hosted by Alderson Broaddus. The tournament will pit LMU (12-13) against Queens (8-19) and Coker against Alderson Broaddus in Friday's opening round with the winners and losers from each match facing each other on Saturday. The Railsplitters earned the top seed by going a combined 5-1 over the competing teams with season sweeps of Coker and Alderson Broaddus.
 
The IVA Tournament is the first championship event in the history of college men's volleyball for NCAA Division I-II teams competing as independents without a conference affiliation. Alderson Broaddus beat Coker to win last year's inaugural event.
 
Schedule/Gameday Links: 
 
Friday, April 13 vs. Queens (4 p.m.) – Live Stats | Video
Saturday, April 14 vs. Coker or Alderson Broaddus (TBA) – Live Stats | Video
 
Quick Hits: 
 
- LMU concluded its regular season Tuesday night at King with a straight-set loss (19-25, 24-26, 20-25). The Tornado led 46-38 in kills and hit .307 to Lincoln Memorial's .198. King also held a 47-34 edge in digs and had the only service ace of the match. The Railsplitters had more blocks at 4-2.
 
- Evan Cory led the Railsplitters with 13 kills while Jordan Walley totaled a career-high 10. Pedro Carvalho hit .462 with eight kills and added a pair of blocks. AJ Risavy collected 29 assists while Logan Kerley had 11 digs.
 
- Carvalho, Cory and Risavy earned spots on the Off the Block All-Independent team, and Risavy was tabbed as the Independent Teams Freshman of the Year, it was announced on Wednesday.
 
- Carvalho finished the regular season as the national leader in blocks per set (1.467) and solo blocks (28). The sophomore from São Paulo, Brazil has had four matches with at least 10 blocks and leads LMU with a .420 attack percentage.
 
- Thanks in large part to Carvalho, the Railsplitters rank second nationally in blocks per set with 2.75. This has helped the team hold opponents to the third-lowest hitting percentage at .198.
 
- Cory has recorded a double-digit kill total in 18 of 25 matches and has already surpassed his team-leading 2017 totals with 308 kills, 3.42 kills per set (24^thnationally) and 35 service aces. The sophomore from Metairie, Louisiana has led or been tied for the team lead in kills in 21 of 25 matches.
 
- Risavy is the only other Railsplitter besides Carvalho to start all 25 matches and appear in all 90 sets played. The freshman setter has dished out 773 assists and set a new program record by averaging 8.59 per set (27^thnationally).
 
- Lincoln Memorial finished 9-1 on the season at Mary Mars Gymnasium and is 17-6 thee all-time. The Railsplitters are 3-12 playing away from Harrogate on the year and 5-24 in the program's brief history. This includes an 0-5 record in neutral-site matches.
 
- The team has improved its attack percentage from .201 in its inaugural year to .220. Kills per set up slightly from 10.21 to 10.28. Digs per set are down from 8.80 to 8.41. Blocks per set have increased dramatically from 1.98 to 2.75.
 
Notes on Queens: 
 
- The Queens men's volleyball team is in its inaugural season. 
 
- The Royals have won four of their last six matches to conclude their regular season. The stretch began with a five-set victory over the Railsplitters on March 23. However, Queens was swept in straight sets on Tuesday by Charleston (22-25, 16-25, 20-25) to conclude its regular season.
 
- The Royals hit just .096 as a team. Charleston hit .267 and led in kills 37-28. Queens had more digs at 35-29. Nic Cavallaro led the Royals' attack with nine kills. Aleksandar Perisic added six.
 
- Freshmen Conner Nagaki and Aleksandar Perisic were named to the 2018 Off the Block All-Independent Team.
 
- Queens is the national leader with 10.53 digs per set. Nagaki ranks third nationally with 2.86 digs per set. The libero has recorded double-digit digs in 10 matches.
 
- Perisic is eighth nationally with 1.165 blocks per set. He ranks fifth with 22 solo blocks.
 
- Opponents average over two more kills per set than the Royals (11.68-9.62) and have an 1156-952 edge overall. Opponents have hit .200 to Queens' .153.
 
- The Royals have also struggled in the serving category with just 88 aces compared to 189 allowed. Opponents average 1.91 service aces per set while Queens averages 0.89.
 
- Six Royals have recorded at least 100 kills led by the trio of Tristan Santoyo (163 kills), Jake Dube (144 kills) and Perisic (140 kills). Cavallaro leads the team with 2.56 kills per set.
 
- Queens finished its inaugural season with a 6-7 record at home and 2-12 on the road. Friday will be the team's first neutral site match.