GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – The Lady Railsplitters wrapped up the Pioneer Classic with a three-set loss at the hands of the University of Montevallo Falcons on Saturday at Pioneer Arena. Lincoln Memorial (4-2) was saddled with its second straight loss, while Montevallo (9-1) won its seventh consecutive match by scores of 28-26, 25-20, 25-20.
The Lady Railsplitters struggled offensively for the second day in a row, hitting .090 with 35 kills and 23 attack errors. Montevallo wasn't much better but did finish with a slight edge in kills (41), attack errors (22) and attack percentage (.143).
Danielle Ged and
Lindsey Nartker paced LMU with seven kills apiece. Ged reached that mark on only 14 attempts and finished with a .500 attack percentage, but was the only Lady Railsplitter to hit over .200.
Emma Flowers and
Rylee Storms added six kills apiece, while
Alicia Kessler chipped in five kills.
Emily Walter tallied 20 assists, eight digs and two aces, while
Erica Whiteaker led the team with 20 digs.
Amanda Nugent led Montevallo with a game-high 12 kills and also matched a team-high mark with 12 digs. Evelina Teran chipped in eight kills, while Brioni Dixon and Desiree Rodriguez contributed seven kills apiece. Five different players recorded an assist for the Falcons in the match, led by Savannah Roys' 15. Michaela Henderson matched Nugent's mark with 12 digs.
The Lady Railsplitters led for the better part of the opening set and earned three chances at set point, but the Falcons rallied back to draw first blood. Lincoln Memorial was clicking early and built leads of 7-2, 14-7 and 18-9. Nartker kept the Lady Railsplitters comfortably in front 19-10 with a kill, but Montevallo reeled off 10 straight points after that to take their first lead of the set at 20-19. The Lady Railsplitters answered back and had three looks at set point with 24-23, 25-24 and 26-25 leads, but the Falcons used a block and two kills to extend the frame. Back-to-back kills by Dixon then clinched Montevallo's marathon 28-26 win.
The Falcons led from start to finish in set two, but the Lady Railsplitters stayed within striking distance until three straight kills gave Montevallo a 16-12 edge. Lincoln Memorial was unable to close the gap to less than two after that, while a late 4-0 spurt put the Falcons on the verge of victory with a 24-17 cushion. Rodriguez finished off the set with a kill to give Montevallo a commanding 2-0 lead.
The third set was another back-and-forth affair until kills from Teran, Nugent and Hannah Fernandez put the Falcons in front 12-8 and force an LMU timeout. The Lady Railsplitters responded and cut the deficit to 13-12 on an attack error, but Montevallo won five of the next six rallies to build a commanding 18-13 lead. The Falcons eventually pulled ahead 23-16 before the Lady Railsplitters rattled off five straight points to make it 23-21. However, a service error and an ace from Nugent thwarted any comeback bid and clinched Montevallo's straight-set win.
The Lady Railsplitters return to action on Friday, September 14 when they open South Atlantic Conference play with a home date against Queens. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Mary Mars Gym.
