HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Lincoln Memorial University women's volleyball team halted a five-match skid Saturday afternoon inside the Deloach Center in Hartsville, South Carolina, by claiming a 3-1 triumph over Coker University. Earning their second South Atlantic Conference road victory of 2019, the Lady Railsplitters (3-8, 3-5 SAC) wrapped up an extensive seven-match stretch away from home with a win by coming back from a 1-0 deficit after dropping the opening set.
 
Tying a season high in kills (53), LMU attacked at a mark of .193 for the afternoon and collected at least 12 kills in each of the final three sets. The Lady Railsplitters fought their way back from down 22-19 in the second set and earned a 26-24 set win after dropping the opener, 25-13. LMU then edged out the host Cobras (3-7, 1-6 SAC) 27-25 in the third before racking up 19 kills in the fourth set and clinching the match with a 25-17 win.
 
Holding Coker to a .148 attack percentage, the Lady Railsplitters hit over .280 in the last two sets with an attacking clip of .282 in the third set and .324 in the fourth.
 
After a service ace from senior right side hitter Rylee Storms gave LMU a 3-2 lead in the first set, the Cobras claimed three points in a row and never trailed for the remainder of the set. Ahead by six at 14-8, Coker went on a five-point run and took a commanding 19-8 advantage before cruising to a 12-point opening set win.
 
However, the Lady Railsplitters would not be rattled and found their rhythm in the second. After a kill from junior Missouri State-West Plains transfer middle hitter Yileen Ng He gave LMU a 7-6 lead in the second set, the Cobras won five-straight points to build an 11-7 lead. Trailing 15-11, a five-point Lady Railsplitter onslaught, which was capped by a kill by freshman outside hitter Emma Winford, tied things up at 15. The two teams would exchange points before a trio of Coker points gave the home team a 20-17 lead. That lead would remain at three, 21-18 and 22-19, before a pair of Cobra errors got LMU within one at 22-21. From there, the Lady Railsplitters gave up just one point as a kill from senior outside hitter Lindsey Nartker and a service ace by freshman defensive specialist Lauren Lask broke a 24-24 tie and evened up the match at 1-1.
 
LMU jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the third set and built its advantage to six at 13-7 and 15-9, but Coker would slither its way back to within striking distance thanks to a three-point run. Freshman outside hitter Cate Hosenfeld laid down a kill to give the Lady Railsplitters a commanding 20-14 lead but a six-point Cobra run evened up the set at 20 apiece. LMU won three of the following four points to go in front 23-21, however, the Lady Railsplitters would have to stave off two set points. A couple of Coker kills and an LMU attack error put the home team ahead 24-23 and moments later another Lady Railsplitter attack error made it 25-24 in favor of the Cobras. Walter and Ng He would account for the next three points with three consecutive kills, handing LMU a second-straight two-point set win and giving the visitors a 2-1 match lead.
 
After the Cobras won the first three points of the fourth set, the Lady Railsplitters found their groove and rattled off six points in a row thanks to kills from freshman middle hitter Makayla Fox, Storms and Nartker. LMU would remain in control for the remainder of the match, building a seven-point advantage at 17-10 after a Hosenfeld kill. Coker would get no closer than five for the remainder of the set as the Lady Railsplitters secured the match on a Hosenfeld kill.
 
Nartker led the way with 13 kills on the afternoon with Storms adding 10, Ng He nine and Hosenfeld eight. Storms and Fox both rose up for a season-high six blocks as Walter notched her third 40-assist match with 41 assists. Junior libero Sarah Jones made a match-best 22 digs and contributed a pair of aces.
 
The Cobras got 12 kills and 12 digs from Emily Everton and another 10 from Taylor du Bray, while Ashley Carson served a trio of aces and Chelsey Blume recorded a match-high nine blocks. Du Bray tallied six blocks of her own and Sierra Harvey added four as Ashley Carson assisted on 20 kills and Rami Mullen on another 12. Coker's Camryn Tate earned a team-high 13 digs.
 
Up Next…
The Lady Railsplitters return to the friendly confines of Mary Mars Gymnasium and Harrogate next weekend for a pair of SAC matches with Catawba and Queens before stepping out of league play the following weekend, Friday and Saturday Oct. 11-12. LMU will welcome the Indians for a 7 p.m. first serve Friday, Oct. 4 with the match serving "Poster Night" before hosting the Royals Saturday, Oct. 5 at 2 p.m.

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.