JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After three consecutive five-set South Atlantic Conference road outings, the Lincoln Memorial University women's volleyball team was halted by Carson-Newman in three sets Friday night inside Holt Fieldhouse in Jefferson City, Tennessee. The Lady Railsplitters (2-7, 2-4 SAC) were outdone 25-18 in the opening set, 25-15 in set two and 25-8 in the third set as the host Eagles (6-3, 4-2 SAC) hit at a blistering clip of .337 for the match.
 
Held to a -.101 hitting mark across the three sets, LMU was only able to manage six kills per set and did not have a positive attack percentage in any of the three stanzas. Meanwhile, Carson-Newman registered at least 10 kills in each set to finish with 35 total kills as a team while committing a mere seven attack errors for the entire match.
 
A pair of service aces from freshman outside hitter Emma Winford capped a four-point Lady Railsplitter run in the first set and gave LMU its lone lead of the set before the Eagles settled in and took a 17-10 advantage. One of three attack errors by Carson-Newman in the set got the Lady Railsplitters within striking distance at 17-13 but four-straight Eagle point gave the home team a commanding eight-point lead a 21-13. LMU won five of the following nine points, including getting the score back within four at 22-18, but it wasn't nearly enough as Carson-Newman took set one after winning the final three points.
 
A kill by junior Missouri State-West Plains transfer middle hitter Yileen Ng He in the second set gave the Lady Railsplitters its lone lead of the set at 2-1. After a 5-5 tie, the Eagles took an 11-6 advantage before a pair of Carson-Newman attack errors got LMU within two at 12-10. From there, it was all Eagles as the home team built a 22-12 lead and went on earn the 10-point set victory after gaining 15 kills in the stanza.
 
A kill from senior outside hitter Lindsey Nartker on the first point of the third set would be the Lady Railsplitters' last lead of the night. Carson-Newman went on an 8-0 run and extended its lead to nine at 13-4 before running away with the set. Not a single attack error was committed by the Eagles in the set as they hit at an impressive clip of .556.
 
Nartker paced LMU's offense with six kills, while freshman outside hitter Cate Hosenfeld had four and senior right side hitter Rylee Storms tallied three. Storms also contributed a pair of blocks as sophomore setter Emily Walter dealt 14 assists and junior libero Sarah Jones dug out 18 Carson-Newman attacks.
 
Marnie Streeter led the way for the Eagles with nine kills with Kendall Cooley making seven and Megan Oldenburger adding six. A trio of Carson-Newman players had multiple service aces and Katie Parnell rose up for 11 total blocks while Erin Edwards and Cooley each earned five. The Eagles got a match-high 17 assists from Madison Rademacher and 14 digs from Morgan Ballard.
 
Up Next…
The Lady Railsplitters wrap up their extensive, seven-match SAC road swing this weekend in the Carolinas. Friday, LMU takes on defending regular season and tournament champion Wingate in North Carolina at 7 p.m., before heading to Hartsville, South Carolina, Saturday for a 2 p.m. tilt at Coker. Next weekend, the Lady Railsplitters return to the friendly confines of Mary Mars Gymnasium for matches against Catawba and Queens.

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.