HARROGATE, Tenn. – Two of the top-five teams in the South Atlantic Conference standings await the Lady Railsplitters this weekend when they hit the road to face Mars Hill on Friday and Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday.
 
Lincoln Memorial (8-3, 4-1 SAC) pushed its home winning streak to seven and captured its fourth SAC victory in a five-match span on Tuesday by grinding out a 3-1 win over Catawba. That win kept the Lady Railsplitters a half-game ahead of Mars Hill (10-4, 4-2 SAC) and Lenoir-Rhyne (10-3, 4-2 SAC), who both enter the weekend riding three-match winning streaks. 
 
Mars Hill pounded Tusculum in straight sets on Tuesday to improve to 7-1 over its last eight matches, while Lenoir-Rhyne was last in action last Saturday when the Bears toppled Queens in five sets. 
 
The Basics 
 
Friday, September 28 at Mars Hill – 7pm
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Saturday, September 29 at Lenoir-Rhyne – 2pm
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Quick Hits 
 
- With leading hitter Emma Flowers sidelined for the third straight match, the Lady Railsplitters rode a balanced attack past Catawba in Tuesday's 3-1 win. Lindsey Nartker and Tone Gill led the team with 10 kills apiece, while Rylee Storms had nine and Alicia Kessler had seven. 
 
- After hitting .086 and falling 25-19 in set one, Lincoln Memorial made some adjustments, finished with a collective .188 attack percentage and won the final three frames 25-17, 25-23 and 25-19. That effort helped the Lady Railsplitters improve to 7-0 at Mary Mars Gym this season. 
 
- LMU is just 1-3 away from Harrogate so far this season. Excluding their 3-2 win over Newberry, the Lady Railsplitters have combined to win just one set outside of Mars Gym. 
 
- Senior libero Erica Whiteaker is ranked fourth in the nation in digs per set with 7.0. As a team, the Lady Railsplitters are 29th in the nation with 18.33 digs per set and 18th in opponent attack percentage at .115. The team also ranks 16th in aces per frame with 2.05, led by Whiteaker's .46. 
 
- Gill is 10th in the country in blocks per set with 1.32, which is the second-highest mark in the SAC. She is second in the league in block assists with 42 and total blocks with 49. 
 
- In Flowers' absence, Storms has taken over the team lead in kills with 88. She is averaging 2.26 per set on a .150 hitting percentage. Gill is second on the team with 76 kills, producing 2.05 per set on a .227 mark. 
 
Notes on Mars Hill 
 
- Since suffering back-to-back losses to Anderson and Alabama-Huntsville in early September, the Lions have won seven of their last eight matches, a stretch that includes five 3-0 sweeps. 
 
- Sarah Goddard led Mars Hill in its 3-0 win over Tusculum on Tuesday, recording 12 kills on a .379 mark, while Maddie Spurgeon had 10 kills on a .333 clip. Elizabeth Kaeser produced eight kills but also committed eight attack errors. 
 
- The Lions are ranked fifth in the country in digs per set with 20.71 and 19th in opponent attack percentage with a .116 clip. Ully Martins leads the team with 5.71 digs per set, while Kaeser (3.81) and Sara Pasour (3.04) are also making major contributions in that department. 
 
- Sally Anne Johnson (2.73 kills per set, .335 attack percentage), Kaeser (2.37, .121) and Goddard (2.06, .193) lead the Lions offensively. Pasour and Abby King have split setting duties, with Pasour producing 5.00 per set and King adding 4.38. 
 
- Mars Hill hasn't posed much of a threat with its block, ranking seventh in the league with 1.65 per set. The Lions also average just 1.52 aces per set, which ranks eighth in the SAC. 
 
- Offensively, the Lions have been a middle-of-the-road team with 11.83 kills per set and a .168 attack percentage, both of which rank sixth in the SAC. 
 
Notes on Lenoir-Rhyne 
 
- Lenoir-Rhyne has won three consecutive matches against SAC foes since dropping three straight matches against Francis Marion and league leaders Anderson and Wingate two weekends ago. 
 
- Despite hitting .069, the Bears defeated Queens in five sets last Saturday in their most recent appearance on the court. Lenoir-Rhyne rode six solo blocks and 22 block assists to overcome a shaky offensive performance and push its winning streak to three. Angelica Arroyo led the team with 15 kills, but did also lead the way with 10 errors. Jaclyn Denny and Taylor Prall added nine kills apiece. 
 
- The Bears are ranked 25th in the country with 2.26 blocks per set and have held opposing offenses to a .125 attack percentage. 
 
- Four players are averaging over two kills per set for Lenoir-Rhyne: Arroyo with 2.85, Prall with 2.80, Hannah Houston with 2.25 and Taylor Walton with 2.22. Denny, who is putting up 1.80 kills per set, leads the team with a .274 attack percentage. 
 
- Freshman Helen Hamilton leads L-R with 10.21 assists per set to go along with 2.46 digs per frame. Another freshman, Ashley Hawkins leads the team with 4.45 digs per set. 
 
- Madison Asher has paced the Bears with 47 blocks, including six solo blocks, while Denny has racked up 35 blocks with five solos. 
 
Series History
 
- The Lady Railsplitters are a commanding 26-8 all-time against Mars Hill and have won eight straight games in the series. The Lions last defeated LMU on October 17, 2013. 
 
- Lincoln Memorial swept last season's series, winning in five sets at Mars Hill and in four sets in Harrogate. The Lady Railsplitters are 10-3 on the road in the all-time series with a streak of four straight road wins. 
 
- On the other end of the spectrum, Lenoir-Rhyne leads the all-time series against Lincoln Memorial 15-12. The Bears have also won nine of the last 11 meetings. 
 
- L-R swept the series in 2017, winning 3-0 in Hickory and 3-1 in Harrogate. LMU is just 4-9 on the road in the series.