CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Vying for a top-five seed for next week's 2019 South Atlantic Conference Tournament, the Lincoln Memorial University women's volleyball team ran into a red-hot Queens University squad Saturday afternoon in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Lady Railsplitters (11-18, 10-12) were limited to a .050 attacking percentage as the host Royals (22-5, 19-3) earned a straight-set victory in both team's regular season finale.
 
Queens laid down 41 kills in the match and recorded at least 13 in all three sets, hitting at a .225 mark while making nine blocks and collecting six service aces. Despite tallying 30 kills of its own, LMU wasn't able to attack any better than .143 in any set and could not find its rhythm after a narrow, two-point opening set loss.
 
The Royals claimed the first three points of the match and took an 8-5 advantage in the opening set before a four-point Lady Railsplitter run capped by a service ace from junior middle hitter Yileen Ng He gave LMU a 9-8 lead. The home team then won six of the next seven points to pull ahead 14-10 but the Lady Railsplitters would not go away quietly. A 5-2 run got LMU back within one at 16-15 before six-straight Lady Railsplitter points gave the Blue and Gray a 21-18 lead with an ace from senior right side hitter Rylee Storms. However, Queens won the following six points to earn set point at 24-21. A Royal ball handling error and a Ng He kill made it a one-point affair once again at 24-23 but a Lady Railsplitter attack error ended the set at 25-23.
 
Kills by Storms kept LMU and Queens close in the beginning of the second set before a 5-1 Royals run put the home team ahead 10-5. The Lady Railsplitters would continue to trail by at least four until a trio of consecutive points got LMU within three at 14-11 thanks to a pair of Ng He kills and a Royal attack error. Another Ng He kill and a kill from senior outside hitter Lindsey Nartker made it a three-point set once again at 16-13 and the Lady Railsplitters would get within three one final time at 17-14, but Queens would win five of the next six points to go up 22-15. A Nartker kill and a Nartker ace were the only other points LMU won in the set as the Royals took a 2-0 lead in the match at 25-17.
 
Queens jumped out to an 8-1 advantage in the third set and never looked back. The Lady Railsplitters put together four-straight points to pull back within three at 8-5 but the Royals went on a 6-1 run from there. LMU claimed back-to-back points just once more for the remainder of the match, getting a kill from Nartker coupled with a Queens attack error to make it 17-10 in favor of the hosts. The Royals cruised for the rest of the set and clinched the 3-0 win with a 25-13 set three triumph.
 
The loss snapped the Lady Railsplitters' five-match win streak and made it seven-straight victories for Queens.
 
Nartker led the way for LMU, securing her ninth double-double of the season with 11 kills and 13 digs. Ng He provided 10 kills and three total blocks, while Storms added four kills and four blocks and sophomore setter Emily Walter notched a double-double with 27 assists and 12 digs. Junior libero Sarah Jones also had 12 digs.
 
Logan Witt collected a match-high 12 kills for the Royals with Casey Tarvin and Lindsay Elmore recording eight kills apiece. Queens' Mallory Swarts assisted on 30 of the Royals' 41 kills and served up three aces as Tarvin posted a match-best 16 digs and Elmore made four blocks. Witt also had her hand in four blocks for Queens and JayCee Jones and Chanel Turner combined for 25 digs.
 
Up Next…
The Lady Railsplitters have earned the No. 8 seed for the SAC Tournament and will take on top-seeded and 24th-ranked Wingate Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in Wingate, North Carolina.  

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.