GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – The Lady Railsplitters dominated the opening set, but were denied their first 5-0 start since 2007 in a 25-19, 20-25, 24-26, 17-25 loss to the Georgia College Bobcats on Friday afternoon at Pioneer Arena. 
 
Lincoln Memorial (4-1) outhit Georgia College (4-5) in three of the four sets and finished with a 56-51 edge in total kills, but also committed 31 attack errors compared to just 22 for the Bobcats. Georgia College used three solo blocks and 16 block assists to limit the Lady Railsplitters to a .134 attack percentage. The Bobcats weren't much better, but did produce a .171 hitting clip. 
 
Freshman Emma Flowers led the Lady Railsplitters with 13 kills, but struggled to reach that mark efficiently and also paced LMU with seven attack errors. Alicia Kessler had 11 kills on a .250 clip, while Lindsey Nartker had 10 kills on a .240 mark. Tone Gill chipped in nine kills. Erica Whiteaker led all players with 28 digs, while Emily Walter was stellar once again with a career-high 50 assists and 11 digs. 
 
Georgia College was paced by Libby Bochniak and Taylor Svehla's 17 kills apiece. That duo also combined for only eight attack errors while hitting .269 and .316, respectively. Emily Crowell contributed nine kills on a .318 mark. Jordyn Moellering led the way with 24 digs, while Kayla Brockway had a team-high 37 assists to go with 13 digs. 
 
Following back-to-back kills from Rylee Storms and Nartker, the Lady Railsplitters jumped ahead 5-1 in the opening set. Back-to-back service aces from Nartker then extended Lincoln Memorial's lead to 12-5. The Lady Railsplitters then pushed their lead to double digits, pulling ahead 21-11 on a block from Storms and Kessler. The Bobcats made a brief run to trim the deficit to 23-18, but kills from Kessler and Gill clinched the 25-19 win. 
 
Georgia College returned the favor in set two, using a kill from Crowell and two consecutive LMU attack errors to take a commanding 13-4 lead. The Lady Railsplitters reeled off an 8-3 run over the next passage of play to close the gap to 16-12 on a kill by Gill, but a 3-0 Bobcat run effectively ended the set. Lincoln Memorial never pulled closer than three points over the final stretch as an attack error, LMU's ninth of the set, ended it at 25-20. 
 
The third set was the most competitive of the match as neither team led by more than two points until late in the frame. Kills from Gill and Flowers and a Georgia College attack error gave the Lady Railsplitters a 19-17 cushion, but a 5-0 run put the Bobcats ahead 22-19. Lincoln Memorial fought back, though, and used a 3-0 spurt to force set point with a 24-23 lead. However, back-to-back kills from Svehla and a block by Svehla and Brockaway comprised a 3-0 closing run that gave the Bobcats a 26-24 victory. 
 
The fourth frame was another closely-contested set as neither team led by more than three until the Bobcats fired off five unanswered points to build a late 19-13 lead. The Lady Railsplitters closed the gap to 20-16 after that, but the Bobcats scored on the next three rallies to all but assure the victory. Bochniak's 17th kill of the match wrapped up the 25-17 victory. 
 
The Lady Railsplitters were at their least efficient in that fourth set, finishing with their lowest kill total (10) and most attack errors (10). 
 
Lincoln Memorial will look to bounce back on Saturday when they face Montevallo at 2 p.m. to conclude the Pioneer Volleyball Classic.