HARROGATE, TN – After a thrilling five-set road win Friday night in Greeneville, Tennessee, the Lincoln Memorial University women's volleyball team showed no signs of fatigue as the Lady Railsplitters earned their third South Atlantic Conference sweep of 2019 with a straight-set win over UVa-Wise Saturday afternoon inside Mary Mars Gymnasium. LMU (8-17, 7-11) hit a season-best .347 and recorded a three-set season-high 46 kills to claim its second-straight victory.
 
Tallying no fewer than 14 kills in each of the three sets, the Lady Railsplitters attacked at a blistering mark of .467 in the second set and posted 17 kills after hitting .323 with 15 kills in the first set. Defensively, LMU held the Cavaliers (1-22, 0-18) to a .107 attacking clip and 22 total kills as the Lady Railsplitters tied their season high with 13 service aces.
 
Finding itself down 8-5 early in the opening set, LMU won eight consecutive points as back-to-back kills by freshman outside hitter Cate Hosenfeld and freshman middle hitter Kaley Long gave the Lady Railsplitters a 13-8 advantage. A second eight-point run, this time capped by a kill from senior outside hitter Lindsey Nartker, built a 10-point LMU lead at 22-12. Two kills from junior middle hitter Yileen Ng He and a Hosenfeld kill closed out the set at 25-14 for the Lady Railsplitters.
 
Unlike the set one, LMU jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the second set and used a five-point run to pull ahead 16-5. After senior right side hitter Rylee Storms laid down a kill and junior libero Sarah Jones served up an ace to make it 22-9, UVa-Wise won seven of the following nine points to get within eight at 24-16. However, Ng He rose up for a kill to clinch the set at 25-16 and give the Lady Railsplitters a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Despite trailing 4-3 in the third set, LMU strung six consecutive points together to go up 9-4. From there, the Cavaliers would get no closer than four for the remainder of the match as kills from Long and Nartker, coupled with a Hosenfeld ace, built the Lady Railsplitters' lead to seven at 15-8. Another Nartker kill and then service ace put LMU in front 20-11, before a Hosenfeld kill and Hosenfeld ace gave the home team a 25-15 set three triumph and clinched the match.
 
Ng He led the way for the lady Railsplitters with 13 kills and a pair of blocks as freshman defensive specialist Lauren Lask registered a career-high five aces. Hosenfeld and Nartker each notched a trio of aces while Nartker made nine kills and Hosenfeld seven. Long finished with eight kills and sophomore setter Emily Walter provided a match-best 37 assists as Jones collected a match-high 20 digs.
 
UVa-Wise was led by Ciara Kain's eight kills, Brooke Abbott's four total blocks, Morgan Milligan's three blocks and 12 assists, and Briana Kerr's 14 digs.
 
Up Next…
The Lady Railsplitters continue their final homestand of the regular season next weekend, hosting Lenoir-Rhyne Friday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. for Senior Night 2019. Next Saturday, LMU will play its final home game of the season and quite possibly the Lady Railsplitters' last ever match inside Mary Mars Gym when LMU welcomes Mars Hill to Harrogate for a 2 p.m. first serve.

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.