HARROGATE, Tenn. – Six Lincoln Memorial University athletic programs are in action this week between Monday, Sept. 23 and Sunday, Sept. 29 as three of LMU's five fall sports return to play. Women's and men's soccer, along with women's volleyball, continue their fall campaigns as the preseason No. 5 nationally-ranked men's golf team begins its 2019-20 journey. Women's golf and men's bowling also return to the fall portion of their 2019-20 schedules.
 
Throughout 2019-20, LMU athletics will provide a look ahead at the week's calendar of athletic events, both home and away, previewing each team's competition/s and highlighting team's news, notes, performances and more.
 
Men's Golf
Coming off a national finalist run a season ago at the 2019 NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship in Daniels, West Virginia, the LMU men's golf team is poised for another banner year as it starts its fall season at the Cougar Invitational in Columbus, Georgia, Monday.
 
The two-day, 17-team tournament hosted at the Country Club of Columbus will feature 36 holes Monday followed by the final 18 holes of play Tuesday. Four of the top five teams in the nation, according to the 2019-20 Bushnell Golfweek Preseason Poll, will be competing in Columbus Monday and Tuesday with top-ranked and reigning national champion Lynn, No. 2 Barry University and fourth-ranked Florida Southern joining the fifth-ranked Railsplitters. The tournament features five top-10 teams as No. 8 Florida Tech will also be taking to the links.
 
LMU retained every golfer from its national runner-up squad this past spring minus All-American Sam Broadhurst, who graduated. With junior Luke Harries unable to travel to Georgia for the season-opening tournament, the Railsplitters will be going with three of the returning five – senior Harry Boyle, sophomore Hamish McColm and junior Dan Danbury. Newcomer Erik Fogel and sophomore Zane Potter, who worked his way into the starting five with the absence of Harries, will be representing LMU's team score.
 
The Railsplitters will also have an individual in senior Brady Davis golfing in the Peach State. To follow along with live results over the next two days, click here, or head over to LMU's men's golf schedule page.
 
Women's Golf
The Lady Railsplitters began their 2019-20 journey this past Monday and Tuesday at their own State Farm Intercollegiate - SAC Preview at the Woodlake Golf Club in Tazewell, Tennessee. LMU finished in fourth place behind Wingate, Lenoir Rhyne and Carson-Newman as junior Harper Cherry led the Lady Railsplitters with a 12th-place tie (8-over 152).
 
The women's golf team will continue their fall season this week by hitting the road and traveling to Charlotte, North Carolina, for Queens' Battle for Royalty tournament taking place Monday and Tuesday at TPC Piper Glen. Queens will host the Lady Railsplitters, Mars Hill, Southern Indiana, Belmont Abbey College and Palm Beach Atlantic across the two days. Eighteen holes of play will take place both days of the tournament on the par-72, 5,989-yard course.
 
Tee times begin at 9 a.m. Monday. 
 
Women's Soccer
It felt good to get back to back to winning ways Saturday afternoon at the LMU Soccer Complex. The LMU women's soccer team (5-1, 1-1 SAC) did it in thrilling fashion, defeating Queens in a double-overtime, 1-0, via a Thenia Zervas assist and Jessica Cravero goal. It was Zervas' fifth assist and Cravero's sixth score of the season, which are both team-leading categories.
 
The Lady Railsplitters will step outside of South Atlantic Conference play for a day, hosting Shaw University (1-3) at 1 p.m. Tuesday before heading to Wingate (3-1, 2-0 SAC) for the same start time on Saturday. The matchup versus Shaw will be the first in program history as the Lady Bears visit Harrogate on a two-match losing streak.
 
On the other hand, the matchup against the Bulldogs Saturday is one LMU re-established a season ago, defeating Wingate 1-0 and snapping a 12-game losing streak that dated back to 2008. The Lady Railsplitters, who are 4-13 versus the Bulldogs all-time, have never beaten Wingate at its place, winning only one game away from the LMU Soccer Complex in a neutral setting in Rock Hill, South Carolina, in 2007.
 
Men's Soccer
The men's soccer squad had an action-packed week of conference play this past week. On Wednesday, LMU traveled to Jefferson City, Tennessee, where the Railsplitters took on Carson-Newman to kick off their SAC schedule. Junior forward Jorge Melgar was the first to score in the contest but LMU gave up a pair of second-half goals to fall short, 2-1.
 
The Railsplitters bounced back on Saturday in a big way, hosting Queens in another challenging league contest. Melgar notched his second goal of the week in the first half to give the home team a 1-0 lead that it would not relinquish. In the second half, it was freshman midfielder Sonnie Mathis who tacked on his second goal of the season in order to give LMU a commanding 2-0 lead. The two goals led to the first victory of the Railsplitters' 2019 campaign and the first triumph of the Robert Spain era at LMU.
 
This week, the Railsplitters continue their homestay by hosting the Shaw University Bears in non-conference action at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday inside the LMU Soccer Complex. Saturday, LMU will step back into SAC play and travel to Wingate, North Carolina, for a 4 p.m. opening whistle at Wingate.
 
Tuesday's matchup with be the first-ever meeting between the Railsplitters and Shaw on the soccer pitch. Despite owning a 3-10-1 all-time record versus the Bulldogs, LMU won its most recent meeting with Wingate, claiming a 3-0 shutout last October in Harrogate.
 
Women's Volleyball
The Lady Railsplitters (2-6, 2-3 SAC) have now played three consecutive five-set SAC road matches after battling both Newberry and Anderson over the weekend in five-set thrillers. Friday night in Newberry, South Carolina, LMU forced a deciding fifth set after trailing 2-1 but was unable to match the host Wolves in the final set, falling 3-2. Saturday afternoon, the Lady Railsplitters held a trio of match points in the fourth set at Anderson, however, the host Trojans staved off each and held on for a hard-fought, 16-14 fifth set win to take the match, 3-2.
 
On an extensive, seven-match SAC road trip, LMU will look to change its recent fortune Tuesday night in nearby Jefferson City, Tennessee. The Lady Railsplitters take on Carson-Newman in a 7 p.m. first serve from Holt Fieldhouse, before traversing to North Carolina and South Carolina over the weekend. LMU will face Wingate Friday night at 7 p.m. and Coker Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
 
The Lady Railsplitters return to the friendly confines of Mary Mars Gymnasium Friday, Oct. 4 when they welcome Catawba to Harrogate.
 
Seeking its third-straight win in the series, LMU holds an impressive 39-19 all-time record versus the Eagles of Carson-Newman. A year ago, the Lady Railsplitters downed the Eagles in straight sets in Jefferson City and were 3-1 winners inside Mar Mars.
 
Friday, LMU will attempt to halt a seven-match skid against the defending league champion Bulldogs, who have claimed all but one SAC regular season and 11 conference tournament titles since 2006. Wingate owns a startling 28-1 record in the all-time series with the Lady Railsplitters as LMU's lone win over the Bulldogs came on Oct. 28, 2016, a 3-2 victory in Harrogate.
 
LMU will be going for its fourth-straight triumph over the host Cobras Saturday, giving up just one set against Coker in its previous three meetings. Last season, the Lady Railsplitters earned a 3-1 victory over the Cobras in Hartsville, South Carolina, after sweeping Coker inside Mar Mars Gym. Owning an 11-1 all-time record versus the Cobras, LMU's lone defeat took place on the road in 2017.
 
Men's Bowling
The Railsplitters began the fall portion of their 2019-20 season over the weekend at the Westgate Entertainment Center in Lima, Ohio, as they took part in the University of Northwestern Ohio's Racer Classic. After ending day one of competition in third place at the two-day tournament, LMU reached the semifinals Sunday where they faced host Northwestern Ohio. Following a two-pin (365-363) setback to the Racers, the Railsplitters bowled for third place against Lawrence Tech but had to settle for a fourth-place finish after a one-pin loss.
 
Next weekend, LMU continues its fall slate by traveling to Muncie, Indiana, for Ball State's two-day tournament Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 28-29.
 
How to Follow
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 Railsplitter and Lady Railsplitter athletics throughout 2019-20.