HARROGATE, Tenn. – A tightly-contested, 25-23 first set versus the 22nd-ranked Bulldogs of Wingate University Friday night inside Mar Mars Gymnasium in Harrogate, Tennessee, went the way of the visitors as the Lincoln Memorial University women's volleyball team was handed a straight-set loss. Undefeated on the year, the Bulldogs (19-0, 12-0) continued their hot start to South Atlantic Conference play and could not be tamed following the narrow opening set.
 
The Lady Railsplitters (5-13, 4-7) were limited to just 16 total points in the final two sets of the match, reaching only eight points in each stanza. Meanwhile, Wingate looked to be unstoppable tallying 35 kills and committing just six errors for a .358 attack percentage on the night. The Bulldogs went the entire second set without committing an attack error, hitting at an impressive .421 clip for the set, before finishing with 10 service aces and 13 blocks.
 
Held to a .000 attacking mark, LMU was unable to record more than five kills in each of the last two sets after hitting .270 and making 14 kills in the opener.
 
A Wingate attack error put the home team ahead 6-5 in set one before the Bulldogs won three-straight points to go up 8-6. The two teams then exchanged three-point spurts prior to the Lady Railsplitters pulling ahead 14-13 on a kill from freshman outside hitter Cate Hosenfeld. Trailing 21-18, a kill by senior right side hitter Rylee Storms and a Bulldog ball handling error made it a one-point set at 21-20. Back-to-back Hosenfeld kills knotted things up at 23, however, a pair of Wingate kills closed out the set.
 
A service ace by freshman defensive specialist Lauren Lask gave LMU a 2-1 lead in the second set but it would be the last advantage for the Lady Railsplitters for the remainder of the night. The Bulldogs would go on a 17-0 run with Treslyn Ortiz serving and take a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-8 set triumph.
 
After a Storms kill kept LMU within one at 4-3 in the third set, Wingate once again went on a lengthy run by claiming 17 of the following 19 points. Included in the 17-2 run were 13-straight Bulldog points behind Molly Lambillotte's serve.
 
Storms led the way for the Lady Railsplitters with seven kills, while Hosenfeld provided six and junior middle hitter Yileen Ng He tacked on five. Walter owned 20 assists and junior libero Sarah Jones and Hosenfeld made 10 and eight digs, respectively.
 
Sophie Schaff and Anne Abernathy each connected on seven kills for the Bulldogs as Rachel Alles had five, to go along with a team-best 16 assists and 11 digs. Abernathy totaled eight blocks and Wingate got six total from both Schaff and Maggie Young, while Ortiz earned six aces and 11 digs and Lambillotte registered four aces and eight digs.
 
Up Next…
The Lady Railsplitters continue their five-match homestand Saturday afternoon with a 2 p.m. tilt against Coker. LMU defeated the Cobras 3-1 in Hartsville, South Carolina, back on Sept. 28 after overcoming an opening set loss. Next week, the Lady Railsplitters host Carson-Newman in a midweek affair Tuesday 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.