Box Score HARROGATE, TN – Closing out its 2019 home schedule and playing possibly its final match ever in Mary Mars Gymnasium, the Lincoln Memorial University women's volleyball team earned a 3-1 victory over regionally-ranked Mars Hill Saturday afternoon. The Lady Railsplitters (10-17, 9-11) picked up their fourth-straight South Atlantic Conference win behind a season-best 66 kills as LMU tallied 87 digs, tying its second-highest dig total of the fall.
 
Despite dropping the opening set 25-22 to the visiting Lions (14-13, 11-9), who are ranked No. 10 in the NCAA Division II Southeast Region, the Lady Railsplitters rebounded with a convincing 25-16 set two win and took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-22 set three triumph. LMU closed out the match in four sets, fighting for a gritty 27-25 fourth set.
 
Getting a match-high 16 kills from both senior right side hitter Rylee Storms and senior outside hitter Lindsey Nartker, the Lady Railsplitters attacked at a .191 clip for the match as sophomore setter Emily Walter tied her career high with 52 assists. Claiming seven points off of service aces, LMU limited Mars Hill to 45 kills with the Lions hitting at a .160 mark across the four sets.
 
Mars Hill took control of the opening set early and remained in control for the majority of the stanza. After falling behind 13-9, the Lady Railsplitters went on a 5-1 run and knotted things up at 14 with back-to-back kills from Storms and junior middle hitter Yileen Ng He and a Lion attack error. Mars Hill won six of the following eight points to take a 20-16 lead before LMU went on a six-point tear. However, the Lady Railsplitters were unable to maintain their 22-20 advantage as the Lions won the final five points of the set to take a 1-0 lead in the matinee affair.
 
Despite falling behind 4-1 in the second set, LMU worked its way back and went in front 5-4 on a Mars Hill ball handling error. From there, the Lady Railsplitters would lead for the remainder of the set pulling ahead 18-10 on a 6-0 run. The Lions would get no closer than five as LMU won four of the last five points of the set to even the match at 1-1.
 
A tightly-contested first 24 points of set three resulted in a 12-all score before a pair of Nartker kills put the home team up by two. A strand of three points gave the Lady Railsplitters a 17-14 lead and LMU held the advantage for the rest of the set. A kill by Storms made it a four-point set at 21-17, and the Lady Railsplitters led 23-19 after another Storms kill and a Nartker and Kaley Long block. Although Mars Hill got back within two twice at 23-21 and 24-22, Storms rose up for a kill to give LMU a 2-1 lead in the contest.
 
After trailing 10-8 early in the fourth set, the Lady Railsplitters pulled in front 15-12 thanks to a Storms kill and a Lion attack error. Kills from Nartker and freshman outside hitter Cate Hosenfeld gave LMU a 18-16 advantage but neither team was able to create much separation. An 8-4 run by Mars Hill gave the visiting team set point at 24-22, but the Lady Railsplitters would not be denied of a four-set triumph. A trio of kills by Storms, Nartker and Ng provided LMU with its first match point of the day. Moments later, a Ng kill finished off the match.
 
Ng finished the match with 14 kills and Hosenfeld added 10 kills, four total blocks, four aces and 14 digs, while freshman middle hitter Long totaled a career-high seven blocks. Nartker recorded her eighth double-double of the season with her 16 kills and season-best 20 digs as junior libero Sarah Jones tied a match-high 24 digs.
 
The Lions got a match-high tying 16 kills from Sarah Goddard, who also had five total blocks, and six total blocks from Sally Anne Johnson as Lauren Phillips claimed 10 kills. Jordan Schmucker posted 19 assists for Mars Hill and Sara Pasour had 17 with Ully Martins recording a match-best tying 24 digs.
 
Prior to the match, recently graduated and two-time CoSIDA Google Cloud Academic All-American of the Year Erica Whiteaker was honored with a commemorative volleyball. The Kingston Springs, Tennessee, native closed out her remarkable collegiate career last fall as the best player at her position in program history. She is the Lady Railsplitters' all-time leader in career digs (2,345), digs per set (5.57) and service attempts (1,831).
 
Up Next…
The Lady Railsplitters wrap up their 2019 slate next weekend on the road, traveling to Catawba next Friday, Nov. 15 for a 7 p.m. tilt in Salisbury, North Carolina, before heading to Charlotte to face Queens Saturday, Nov. 16 at 2 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.