HARROGATE, Tenn. — Two weeks too long.
 
That's how long it had been since the Lincoln Memorial University men's volleyball team played before stepping onto the court inside Mary Mars Gym Friday night. And when the Railsplitters did, the reigning Independent Volleyball Association champions made sure their presence was known.
 
In LMU's first match versus first-year program Daemen College, the top-seeded Railsplitters showed the No. 4 Wildcats their brand of volleyball as they limited them to an .014 hitting clip, while hitting a sizzling .365 and running away with the 3-0, 25-16, 25-16, 25-13, win to advance to their second straight IVA Tournament championship match.
 
"I thought we came out with a lot of energy and intensity to start with and carried that through that first set — until the last eight or nine points — we really brought it out," LMU head coach John Cash said. "You could tell we'd been off for a few weeks. We were dying to play somebody other than ourselves. That part was pretty exciting to see. While we did have a service ace game, our errors in that second set were ridiculous to have eight service errors in one set, that's too many, so we gave them half their points on our own serve.
 
"There are some things to clean up, but when you look at the overall picture, we were able to get a lot of guys in; we were able to get a lot of touches from most of the group and finally play somebody else other than ourselves. As much as anything, it was just nice to play somebody else."
 
LMU (17-7) will face No. 2 Queens (10-18), who defeated Coker 3-1 before the Railsplitters' victory, in the championship match at 2 p.m. Saturday, while No. 3 Coker (5-16) and No. 4 Daemen (6-16) will face off in the consolation match at 11 a.m.
 
The Off the Block Independent Teams Player of the Year opposite Evan Cory led the Railsplitters from the get-go. He scored six of his match-high 11 kills in the first set and did those 11 in just 20 swings on a .500 attack percentage compared to just one error. The junior also had a match-high 19 points and five service aces, along with a dig and six total blocks.
 
"I thought Evan had another great outing as he's pushing Independent Player of the Year and looking at the opportunity to be an All-American," Cash said. "The numbers he put up today were pretty solid all the way across the board — he's proven himself."
 
Pedro Carvalho, an All-Independent Team member, matched Cory's blocks with six himself as the duo paced the leaderboard. The junior also secured five kills on eight attacks — as did Dawson Walker — plus three digs. Walker was next in blocks with five, while Logan Kerley added six kills and the same number of digs. Freshman Johansen Negron contributed five kills and three service aces, as well.
 
While the Railsplitters had eight service aces compared to zero for Daemen, LMU had 12 service errors, which Cash wasn't very thrilled about. On the other hand, the Wildcats had 10 service errors plus 23 attack errors while the host team had just nine.
 
For Daemen, Kyle Kon had a team-high seven kills on 16 swings, and while Jesse Donorovich had six but a team-high 12 errors on 23 total attacks. Michael Krueger had 22 assists — which was seven shy of All-Independent Teamer AJ Risavy who also had two digs for the Railsplitters — and eight digs to lead the Wildcats.
 
"We knew if we did serve aggressive and did get them out of system, their swings would be predictable and we'd be able to set up our block," Cash said. "I thought our block was pretty solid tonight. Pedro put up some good numbers. Evan put up some good numbers, and obviously when they are in combination if they set it right, they'll get it. I was happy with that and I thought we got a lot of great touches, too.
 
" … Nice crowd tonight and they were excited about that — playing in front of a family and friends. All of that going on, which we haven't had in a while, and I think that fed into that frenzy of, 'Let's go. Let's go get them.'"
 
That's exactly what LMU did. It's the start any team dreams of.

Lincoln Memorial raced off to a 17-5 run and while the Wildcats made a come-from-behind rally, it wasn't close to threaten the Railsplitters' lead. Cory put down six of his kills, a pair of service aces and a block to power the Railsplitters' .478 attack percentage. It was a 7-2 Daemen run that brought the visiting team within eight (21-13), but a kill from Kerley, Cory and Walker, plus a Wildcat attack error pushed LMU to the quick 1-0 match lead.
 
Set two was another .400-plus hitting set and 25-16 victory for the Railsplitters. Daemen kept it closer this go-around, however, but LMU began to gain ground when the host team used a 4-2 run to force a Wildcat timeout up 13-8. A pair of Kerley kills, one from Cory and another from Carvalho, and a Daemen error, stretched the LMU lead to 19-12. The Wildcats scored one to come within six, and then the Railsplitters found the six points to go up 2-nil and one set away from the championship match.
 
Like the opening set, the Railsplitters jumped out to a huge lead — this one 12-3 — to take full control. Again, the Wildcats put forth a nice run to come within five (16-11), but LMU started chipping away at the deficit. It was an ending that featured a 6-0 Railsplitter run, where three of the points came via a Cory ace before Randy Rivera subbed out for him to an ovation from the crowd and his teammates with just one point away from a championship berth.
 
"That's what we play for right? It's an opportunity to finish on a 'W' and feel good about what that does catapulting you into offseason and next season," Cash said. "Obviously, everyone in the IVA is a rival with one another and I think you could kind of feel that on the court with the Queens and Coker game. It will be that way [Saturday] with Daemen and Coker and us and Queens.
 
"There will be no back down. Everybody is playing to win so it's a matter of exerting will and playing to your capable at the right time. Everybody has been making gains and I think with Queens and ourselves, we've been playing well here at the end. It should be a very competitive match."