HARROGATE, Tenn. — Anticipation was at an all-time high.
 
Most crowded inside Mary Mars Gym Tuesday night knew what Erica Whiteaker was on the brink of, and when the senior libero recorded her 1,809th dig — the most in the history of Lincoln Memorial University women's volleyball — in the third set, the gymnasium exploded.
 
Then, there was Whiteaker, or as everyone refers to her as "Red or Reba," just standing there in the middle of it all in a priceless awe.
 
"I didn't know what to do in that moment," Whiteaker said, smiling. "It was a good feeling. I actually didn't know before this morning when my teammates mentioned it to me and Coach talked to us about it before.
 
"In the moment, it was awesome. My teammates were on the sideline, 'You have seven more. You have two more.' So, that was fun to see. It was great with all the love and support I got from them — that made me feel really special."
 
The third-set dig by Whiteaker pushed her to 28 on the night and one over the previous record (1,808) that Casey Mense, who played from 2012-15, held in the history books.
 
"I feel very privileged because my tenure here we've had both Casey Mense — aka Ginger Face — and now Erica Whiteaker — aka Red, aka Reba," LMU head coach Jenny Michael said. "It's been really neat seeing both of them grow and develop. And, to know (Erica) is not done yet; we still have a lot of season ahead of us — that's pretty exciting.
 
"Very happy for her, but even more importantly, we got the team win and I know the way that Erica is — she is a very selfless person, especially on the court — she was happy we got the team victory."
 
Whiteaker's 28th and final dig helped the Lady Railsplitters secure the third set and sweep over Tusculum College, 25-16, 25-13, 25-22, for their second consecutive South Atlantic Conference victory.
 
Like Friday night's win over Queens, LMU (6-2, 2-0 SAC) got off to a blazing start, and unlike its first SAC win, the Lady Railsplitters didn't surrender a set to the Pioneers (2-6, 0-2).
 
Along with Whitetaker, Rylee Storms had an impressive outing. The redshirt junior led the team in hitting percentage (.324), kills (12) and points (14), while Emily Walter had her second straight 30-plus night in assists, with 32.  Walter was second behind Whiteaker with nine digs and Kai Wesemann had eight.
 
Tone Gill, the AstroTurf SAC Volleyball Player of the Week, had six kills as did Emma Flowers before she went down in the second set with an injury.  Michael called her standout freshman's injury a day-to-day rolled ankle.
 
Even when Flowers went out, the Lady Railsplitters stayed more consistent than Tusculum, averaging a .174 hit percentage compared to the Poineers' .050.
 
And that was a key against the in-state squad.
 
"Tusculum is one of our rivals; they are in Tennessee so it's so good to get that sweep over them," Whiteaker said, "and get another conference win at home.
 
"Coach mentioned before we played that we need to be consistent to beat this team, and I think we executed that well."
 
The Lady Railsplitters now travel to South Carolina for two games this weekend. First, LMU faces Newberry at 7 p.m. Friday night before turning around and facing Anderson at the same time Saturday.