JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial University women's volleyball team took its opponents the distance Saturday, splitting a pair of five-set matches to close out non-conference play at Carson-Newman's South Atlantic Conference/Peach Belt Conference Challenge in Jefferson City, Tennessee. The Lady Railsplitters (5-12) made a remarkable comeback from two sets down to upend the Peach Belt's Lander 3-2 (20-25, 18-25, 27-25, 25-23, 15-13) Saturday afternoon, before being edged 3-2 (15-25, 25-14, 18-25, 25-16, 15-13) by the Peach Belt's Augusta in an evening affair.
 
Both Lander (13-5) and Augusta (15-4) entered the day with impressive overall records.
 
LMU (5-11) 3 | Lander (13-5) 2
The Lady Railsplitters hit at a clip of .196 across the five sets, tallying 57 kills and withstanding the Bearcats' 61 kills and 14 service aces. Lander held a .168 hitting percentage for the match and went ahead 2-0 after taking sets one and two, 25-20 and 25-18, respectively.
 
After gutting out a 27-25 third set, one in which LMU faced match point twice, the Lady Railsplitters evened up the match with a hard-fought 25-23 set four win and pulled out a 15-13 fifth set for the 3-2 match triumph.
 
Without either team able to create much separation in the early going of the opening set, the Bearcats took a 16-11 lead following a 6-1 run. Lander extended its run to 13-3 to go ahead 23-13 before LMU won six straight points to make it 23-19. However, the Bearcats would win two of the following three points to secure the first set.
 
After holding an 8-7 lead early in the second set, the Lady Railsplitters were unable to recover from a six-point Lander run. LMU got within two at 19-17 after a kill from senior right side hitter Rylee Storms and again at 20-18 due to a ball handling error by the Bearcats. It would be the final point won by the Lady Railsplitters in the set as Lander claimed the final five points in the stanza.
 
A service ace from senior outside hitter Lindsey Nartker gave LMU a 7-4 lead early and the Lady Railsplitters remained in front for much of the third set. Going on a 4-0 run, the Bearcats took a 19-18 advantage to force a timeout by head coach Jenny Michael. From there, the two squads exchanged punches before a Lander kill gave the Bearcats match point at 24-23. LMU staved off the first match point it faced with a Storms kill but found itself facing match point once again at 25-24 thanks to another Lander kill. This time, a Bearcat serving error followed by a kill from junior middle hitter Yileen Ng He and a Nartker ace not only thwarted Lander from taking the match but won the third set for the Lady Railsplitters.
 
Attacking at a mark of .312 in the fourth set, LMU raced out to a 12-5 lead before the Bearcats worked their way back and tied up the set at 21. Kills from Nartker and freshman outside hitter Cate Hosenfeld kept the Lady Railsplitters in front by one prior to a Lander attack error and a Storms kill giving LMU back-to-back points to secure the set and tie up the match at 2-2.
 
Despite a Hosenfeld kill capping a 3-0 run and putting the Lady Railsplitters ahead 9-5 in the decisive fifth set, the Bearcats would claw their way back to make things interesting late. Lander got within one twice at 13-12 and 14-13, but a Nartker kill clinched the match and completed the improbable LMU comeback. Racking up 10 kills in the final set, the Lady Railsplitters attacked at an impressive clip of .348.
 
Hosenfeld finished with a career-high 16 kills and 19 digs as Storms tallied 13, Nartker 12 and Ng He nine. Freshman middle hitter Kaley Long and Storms both provided four blocks, while Ng He had three blocks and sophomore setter Emily Walter handed out a match-high 49 assists. Nartker recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 18 digs as Walter collected 16 digs and junior libero Sarah Jones 15.
 
The Bearcats were led by Kyra Ross' 16 kills and Maya Walker's 15 with Walker also rising up for four total blocks and Alexa Barral making three total blocks. Boo Luther notched a match-best five aces for Lander and Hannah McManus had four of her own, to go along with a match-high 30 digs, while Madilyn Reed assisted on 35 kills.
 
Augusta (15-4) 3 | LMU (5-12) 2
The Lady Railsplitters' offensive performance in the second match of the day was even stronger with LMU registering 58 kills and attacking at a clip of .205, including hitting .343 in the third set with 16 kills. The Jaguars hit .192 for the match and totaled 50 kills, attacking at a .346 mark in the second set and .333 in the deciding fifth set.
 
Cruising to a 25-15 set one victory, the Lady Railsplitters jumped out to a 9-3 lead and never looked back. LMU closed out the opening set by taking five of the final six points, getting a kill from Hosenfeld and an Augusta attack error to punctuate the stanza.
 
The Jaguars evened up the match at 1-1 with a lopsided set of their own, running away with a 25-14 win after starting the set 11-2.
 
Responding in the third set, the Lady Railsplitters wasted no time in grabbing hold of a 7-0 lead thanks to back-to-back kills from Ng He. A Hosenfeld service ace gave LMU a 10-point, 16-6 advantage before Augusta worked its way back to within seven at 23-16. However, a pair of Hosenfeld kills gave the Lady Railsplitters a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-18 set triumph.
 
Much like the first three sets of the match, the fourth proved to be one sided, this time in favor of the Jaguars. Despite LMU jumping out to a 7-2 advantage, Augusta went on a 15-5 run and took a 17-12 lead following back-to-back Lady Railsplitter attack errors. LMU would get no closer than four for the remainder of the set as the Jaguars closed things out on a 7-2 run, forcing a decisive fifth set with a 25-16 win.
 
Rebounding from a 5-1 deficit in the fifth, the Lady Railsplitters knotted the score at 5-5 on an Augusta ball handling error. From there, the Jaguars took the lead before a Hosenfeld kill tied things up at eight-all. After Augusta went in front 10-8, LMU strung together a trio of points with back-to-back kills from Long and a kill by Storms to take a one-point lead. It would be the final advantage the Lady Railsplitters would hold for the rest of the day as the Jaguars won the following two points with LMU only able to tie the score at 12 and 13 apiece. A pair of Augusta kills sealed the fifth set and closed out the match.
 
Hosenfeld outdid her career high set earlier in the day by earning a match-best 19 kills and tallying 16 digs for her second-straight double-double. Nartker provided 15 kills and both Storms and Ng He added nine, while freshman defensive specialist Lauren Lask claimed three service aces and Ng He made five total blocks. Walter assisted on 45 kills and Jones claimed a team-high 18 digs with Lask making 16.
 
Madison Malloch (14), Chloe Allen (11) and Jessica Hedrick (10) all reached double figures in kills for the Jaguars as Nicolette Ramos and Kassie Till each collected a trio of aces. Hedrick also had six total blocks with Nedu Evans contributing four, while Payton Murchie handed out 26 assists. Holland Martin earned 22 digs on Augusta's back line with Murchie and Till both owning 10 digs.
 
Up Next…
The Lady Railsplitters step back into SAC play next weekend and begin a five-match home stand next Friday, Oct. 18 when they host Wingate for a 7 p.m. first serve inside the friendly confines of Mary Mars Gymnasium. LMU will then welcome Coker to Harrogate Saturday, Oct. 19 for a 2 p.m. affair before taking on Carson-Newman Tuesday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m.

Stay tuned to LMURailsplitters.com, as well as LMU's social media platforms - @LMURailsplitter on Twitter, @LMURailsplitters on Facebook and @lmurailsplitters on Instagram, for complete coverage of Lady Railsplitter volleyball throughout the 2019 season.