HARROGATE, Tenn. — It was great to be home.
 
The Lincoln Memorial University men's volleyball team showed that from the get-go after being on the road for six straight matches, putting together three remarkable sets to sweep Coker 3-0, 25-18, 25-19, 25-18, in the Independent Association Volleyball match inside Mary Mars Gym Friday night.
 
LMU (6-4) used a momentum-changing .477 overall hitting percentage compared to the Cobra's .229 to really separate the play on the floor. Evan Cory led the Railsplitters with 11 kills and a match-high 16 points, while Danny Hermida was right behind him with one less kill (10). The nation's No. 1 blocker in Pedro Carvalho got back on track with eight blocks, Cory added five more, and then AJ Risavy had a match-high 33 assists.
 
Coker (3-4) was paced by Manuel Hernandez, who tied Cory in kills (11) and attacks (19), while having a match-high six digs and nine errors.
 
After losing back-to-back matches, LMU was ready to get back on the winning side. It showed in set one where the Railsplitters hit a dazzling .389 compared to the Cobras' 0.45. Despite a low hitting percentage, Coker stayed with LMU for most of the opening set until the Railsplitters pulled away. After a service error, LMU scored eight of the next nine points to take a demanding 23-16 lead before eventually securing the set No. 1 victory and 1-0 match lead.
 
The Railsplitters took its already hot start and made it even hotter, hitting .542 in the second set. Coker upped its percentage from the floor to .333, but it didn't matter because LMU was clicking on all cylinders. After the Cobras opened the second set with a Absalon Williams' kill, the Railsplitters responded with a 4-0 spurt that Hermida topped off with a service ace. LMU saw another four-point run, putting the Railsplitters ahead 12-6, in which once again Hermida ended it with a kill. From there, it was all LMU as the Cobras didn't tally more than two points at a time to hand the Railsplitters the 2-0 match lead.
 
The momentum was too shifted for the Railsplitters to let off the pedal. LMU scored two straight points here and there in set No. 3 before using a 3-0 run to go up 16-12 to force a Coker timeout. At that point, the Cobras were already too behind. The Railsplitters outscored Coker 9-6 over the last stretch as Randy Rivera took it upon himself to finish off the sweep when he took a Johansen Negron assist and smacked it down for the match-point kill.
 
Up Next
The Railsplitters are back at home at 2 p.m. Saturday for a match versus Erskine.