HARROGATE, Tenn. – For the second time this season the Lincoln Memorial University women's volleyball team played a hard-fought, five-set match with Anderson University, doing so Saturday afternoon inside Mary Mars Gymnasium in Harrogate. Despite owning a 2-1 lead, the host Lady Railsplitters (6-16, 5-10) could not hold off a ferocious comeback by the Trojans (18-3, 14-2) in the five-set South Atlantic Conference matinee.
 
After Anderson staved off a pair of set points in the opening stanza, the Trojans took a 1-0 lead in the match with a 26-24 set one win. LMU looked impressive in the second and third sets, claiming 25-22 and 25-15 set victories to go up 2-1. Anderson would earn a 25-14 set win in the fourth to tie the match at 2-2, before playing effectively in the fifth and clinching the Trojans' sixth-straight triumph with a 15-6 decisive set.
 
Both squads totaled 55 kills in the affair with the Lady Railsplitters attacking at a .174 clip and Anderson posting a .172 mark on offense. The Trojans collected 10 aces across the five sets, compared to LMU's six, and outdid the Lady Railsplitters in blocks, 11-10.
 
Outside of a four-point LMU run that put the home team ahead by three at 14-11, neither team was able to create much separation in the first set. Knotted at 21, the Lady Railsplitters got a kill from sophomore setter Emily Walter and then back-to-back Anderson attack errors to go ahead 23-21. Moments later, a kill by freshman outside hitter Cate Hosenfeld gave LMU two set points at 24-22. However, four consecutive points went the way of the away team.
 
Determined in the second set, the Lady Railsplitters rebounded from a 13-10 deficit by winning six of seven points to pull in front 16-14 on a kill from senior right side hitter Rylee Storms. Although the Trojans would tie the set multiple times, LMU strung together a trio of points to go up 23-20 on a Hosenfeld service ace. After Anderson got within one at 23-22, a Trojan attack error and ace from junior libero Sarah Jones knotted up the match at 1-1.
 
The Lady Railsplitters caught fire in the third set, hitting at a .516 mark and making 17 kills en route to a convincing set win. Taking the first six points of the set, LMU would not look back as it built a 21-12 advantage following a five-point run and finished things off with a kill from junior middle hitter Yileen Ng He.
 
Much like the Lady Railsplitters' third set, Anderson built a comfortable lead in the fourth after earning six of the first seven points. A 9-4 Trojan run put the visitors ahead 19-10 before Anderson closed out the set by winning four-straight points with a pair of aces and two kills.
 
Senior outside hitter Lindsey Nartker notched two kills and the Trojans made an attack error in the beginning of the decisive fifth set, giving LMU a 3-1 lead. From there, Anderson went on a 7-1 tear to take an 8-4 advantage. Aside from a pair of Trojan serving errors, Anderson controlled the remainder of the set and connected on six kills in the final nine points of the match.
 
Nartker finished with a season-high 16 kills, while Ng He made 11 and Hosenfeld tallied 10. Storms contributed nine kills of her own, to go along with four total blocks, and Jones served up three aces and dug out 16 Trojan attacks. Ng He tied her career-high in blocks (6) as Walter handed out a match-high 45 assists and Hosenfeld recorded 17 digs.
 
Anderson got 15 kills from Maya Learmonth and another 11 from both Regan Duty and Noelle Knutsen. Lindsay McCurley had four service aces and 17 digs for the Trojans, while Duty posted six total blocks and Knutsen and Hailee Wilhelm each had five. Emily Conlin assisted on 43 of the Trojans' 55 kills and also registered a match-high 19 digs.
 
Up Next…
Completing a five-match homestand Saturday, the Lady Railsplitters hit the road for a pair of matches next week before returning to the friendly confines of Mary Mars Gym next Saturday afternoon. LMU will head to Mars Hill Tuesday for a 7 p.m. first serve and play at Tusculum Friday evening, once again at 7 p.m., in Greeneville, Tennessee. Next Saturday, the Lady Railsplitters host UVa-Wise for a 2 p.m. tilt.

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.