HARROGATE, Tenn. — Another match in Mary Mars Gym, another victory for the Lincoln Memorial University men's volleyball team.
This one was for the Railsplitters' ninth straight after LMU took down Quincy University in straight sets, 25-22, 25-17, 25-21, for the 3-0 sweep and their first-ever victory over the Hawks to stay undefeated on their home court.
The stats were identical in two stats as both LMU and Quincy had 33 kills and eight blocks, while the Railsplitters had four more digs (29) and edged the Hawks in hitting percentage with a .257 clip to their .232. The biggest difference was LMU's 12 service aces to Quincy's three.
Evan Cory and
Johansen Negron each had four service aces while
Dawson Walker had a season-high three and
Pedro Carvalho added another one. Cory also had a team-high 11 kills and 17 points to go along with five digs. Negron and
Jordan Walley each had a second-team best seven kills as Negron had a season high in his four aces and digs (8). Carvalho contributed a team-high four blocks and .557 hitting percentage, and then
AJ Risavy had 27 assists and
Andres Delgado added six digs.
For the Hawks (5-17), Omari Wheeler tied Cory for a match-best 11 kills, while Adam Rogan led the match with 28 assists and Noam Nannoun did with nine digs. Ben Rachilla had all of the Hawks' service aces (3).
In the opening set, the Railsplitters (12-7) took the lead via a Hawk error and back-to-back Negron service aces and never looked back. Quincy threatened the home team behind its .375 hitting percentage, coming within a point on multiple occasions, but each time LMU responded. The biggest answer was last into the set when the Railsplitters, who had a .385 clip, squandered their comfortable 21-16 lead as the Hawks scored the next six of 10 points to give LMU a scare before Walker's kill secured the 1-0 match lead.
The visitors took the momentum gained late in the first set and put it forward in the next. However, the Railsplitters didn't let it linger for too long as they rallied behind an 11-3 run after they knotted it at 12-all with a Cory kill. From there, LMU kept the points rolling behind another .300-plus hitting attack while limiting the Hawks to .217 for the 2-0 match lead.
LMU hit a match-low .071, but it didn't matter because the Hawks weren't much better (.074). The error-filled set allowed the Railsplitters to shake off the early deficit, 12-9, and bounce back thanks to a 9-3 run and a pair of Cory service aces to take the lead. Quincy battled back to knot the score back up at 20-all; however, another Railsplitter spurt — this one a 5-1 one — was secured by an attack error to hand LMU the sweep victory.
