HARROGATE, Tenn. – The fifth match of the Lincoln Memorial University women's volleyball team's season-opening tournament inside Mary Mars Gymnasium in Harrogate Friday night got off to an exciting start. The Lady Railsplitters battled back from a 24-21 opening-set deficit to claim a thrilling 29-27 victory in set one against the Conference Carolinas' Emmanuel College. However, it wasn't enough as the visiting Lady Lions took the final three sets of the match for a 3-1 win.
 
LMU staved off three set points in the opening stanza after jumping out to an 8-3 lead. Kills by senior right side hitter Rylee Storms and junior Missouri State-West Plains transfer middle hitter Yileen Ng He, coupled with a service ace from freshman defensive specialist Lauren Lask and an Emmanuel ball handling error, gave the lead back to the Lady Railsplitters at 25-24. Another Storms kill made it 26-25 in favor of LMU before a Lady Lion service ace gave the visitors another set point at 27-26. The Lady Railsplitters would not be deterred in the extra win-by-two play, taking the following three points to clinch the set.
 
Much like set one, LMU got off to a strong start in the second set by earning five of the first seven points and taking a 5-2 advantage. Despite owning a 1-0 lead in the match, the Lady Railsplitters found themselves fighting to keep momentum. After building a 10-7 lead in the set, Emmanuel won 14 of 16 points to move ahead 21-12. The Lady Lions would barely loosen their grip as they held on for a 25-18 set two win, knotting things up at one apiece.
 
Uncharacteristically for the match, Emmanuel raced out to a commanding 17-5 lead in the third set and went on to claim an impressive 25-13 set three triumph after hitting at a clip of .320 and tallying 14 kills for the second-straight set.
 
Leading the affair 2-1, the Lady Lions built upon their momentum and grabbed a 10-5 lead to start the fourth set. LMU would get within three at 11-8 with a kill from freshman middle hitter Makayla Fox and made it a four-point game multiple times, but a kill by Emmanuel's Jessica Gray gave the visiting team a 25-19 set four win and clinched the match at 3-1 for the Lady Lions.
 
Emmanuel hit .154 for the match, notching 48 kills on 136 total attacks, while the Blue and Gray was held to a .000 hitting clip. The Lady Lions hit .333 in the second set and got 16 kills from Gray as Taylor Roberts recorded 10 kills off of hitting .304 across the four sets. Registering a hitting mark of .429, Emmanuel's Stephanie Hardy posted a match-high 37 assists and five service aces. Mia McKensey made seven assisted blocks for the Lady Lions and Aysha Avery earned a team-best 16 digs.
 
Storms led the Lady Railsplitter attack with nine kills and five total blocks, while sophomore setter Emily Walter handed out 19 assists and hit .500 for the match. Senior outside hitter Lindsey Nartker served up five aces and added five kills as junior libero Sarah Jones finished with a team-leading 16 digs.
 
Ticket Info
All general admission tickets for LMU's season-opening tournament at Mary Mars Gym are $5. Children under the age of five, in addition to LMU students, faculty and staff with a valid LMU ID, and L-Club members will receive FREE admission.
 
Up Next…
LMU will close out its opening weekend tournament Saturday by facing another Conference Carolina opponent in King at 5 p.m. for the tournament's final match. Following Saturday, the Lady Railsplitters will remain in Harrogate and begin SAC competition next weekend by welcoming Tusculum to Mary Mars Gym Friday, Sept. 13 for a 7 p.m. first serve. LMU will then hit the road for an extensive seven-match road trip spanning across three weeks.

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.