ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Despite two tightly-contested middle sets and a 25-23 set two win, the Lincoln Memorial University men's volleyball team was unable to upend Lindenwood University Friday night in its first road bout of the season. The Railsplitters (1-1) were limited to a .233 attack percentage as the host Lions (1-1) hit .355 and got out to a 1-0 lead after taking the opening set, 25-18.
 
Tied forth seventh in the first Off the Block Division II Coaches Poll of the season, Lindenwood out of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) earned the 3-1 match win after taking set three 25-23 and set four 25-20. LMU, who is receiving votes in the Division II national coaches poll, evened up the match at 1-1 with a 25-23 second set triumph but couldn't hold off a late Lion run in the third set.
 
Senior opposite Evan Cory laid down a match-high 23 kills and sophomore setter Ryan Foy had a career night by assisting on 44 of the Railsplitters' 52 kills. The Lions claimed 53 kills across the four sets and totaled 11 blocks in the win.
 
A 6-1 Lindenwood run at 16-13 in the first set put the home team ahead 22-14 and LMU could not recover as the Lions hit .455 in the set and claimed 17 kills.
 
Jumping out to a 7-3 lead in the second stanza, the Railsplitters withstood an 8-2 Lindenwood run that put the Lions up 19-18. Putting together a trio of points with kills from Cory and sophomore middle/right side hitter Dawson Walker and a service ace by senior middle hitter Pedro Carvalho, LMU retook the lead at 22-20 after trailing 20-19. After another kill by Walker and a kill from junior outside hitter Logan Kerley put the Railsplitters ahead 24-21, Cory rose up for a set-clinching kill at 24-23.
 
Back-to-back Cory kills in the third set gave LMU a 22-18 lead but Lindenwood would win seven of the following eight points to take a 2-1 lead in the match. After a pair of Lion kills, the home team benefited from a trio of Railsplitter errors before getting a kill and closing out the set on another LMU attack error.
 
The Railsplitters held a 12-10 lead in the fourth set after a Carvalho kill and led 14-12 thanks to a kill from Cory but three-straight Lindenwood points shifted the momentum of the set. A Lion service error tied things up at 15 but from there LMU would trail for the remainder of the match.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Johansen Negron finished with 10 kills and Carvalho provided seven, to go along with three blocks. Kerley and Cory combined for 13 digs, while Lindenwood's AJ Lewis notched a team-high 16 kills and the Lions' Diego Negron added 13 and Jeremy Kirch 12.
 
Sam Schindler made a match-best eight blocks for Lindenwood with Diego Negron claiming four as Elijah Tabuarua assisted on 48 of the Lions' 53 kills. Kirch made eight digs for the home squad and Kyle Deutschmann earned seven of his own.  
 
Up Next…
The Railsplitters have a quick turnaround and continue their four-match road trip Saturday night in Quincy, Illinois, where they will take on the Hawks of Quincy University at 8 p.m. EST.
 
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 volleyball throughout the 2020 season.