HARROGATE, Tenn. – For the first time in its four-year history the Lincoln Memorial University men's volleyball team knocked off a NCAA Division I program, doing so Saturday afternoon in a five-set thriller against Saint Francis University inside Mary Mars Gymnasium. The Railsplitters (4-3) recorded a season-best 18.5 total blocks and dominated sets one and three before earning a 15-12 victory in the decisive fifth set.
 
Despite the visiting Red Flash (2-4) tallying nine service aces and 48 kills across the five sets, LMU limited Saint Francis University to a .142 attack percentage. Attacking at a blistering .421 clip in the opening set, the Railsplitters laid down 11 kills and took a 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-20 set win. After the Red Flash tied up the match with a 25-19 set two win, LMU took the third 25-19 to take a 2-1 lead. Saint Francis University knotted things up once again at 2-2 with a 25-17 fourth set but the Railsplitters came out victorious in the fifth behind eight kills.
 
Behind season-highs in blocks from senior middle hitter Pedro Carvalho (10), senior opposite Evan Cory (7) and sophomore middle/right side hitter Dawson Walker (6), LMU got a career-high nine digs from freshman libero Attia Soliman and swung at .143 on the attack for the match. Cory made a team-high 15 kills and sophomore outside hitter Johansen Negron registered 10 while Carvalho accounted for seven kills and six digs. Junior setter AJ Risavy assisted on 30 of the Railsplitters' 41 kills and Cory also contributed seven digs.   
 
Saturday afternoon's affair with the Red Flash was LMU's third-straight meeting with a Division I team this season and the win came on the heels of hosting top-ranked University of Hawai'i at Mānoa in a historic match inside Tex Turner Arena Monday night.
 
The Railsplitters wasted no time making their presence known on the block and jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first set. A Cory kill gave the home team an 8-4 lead before four-straight LMU points put the Railsplitters ahead 14-9 with a kill from Negron. Moments later, a 4-1 LMU run gave the Blue and Gray a 20-15 advantage before a pair of Saint Francis University errors closed out the opening stanza.
 
Finding themselves down 7-3 in the second set, the Railsplitters could not overcome a 11-6 deficit that was stretched out to five at 14-9. A 6-2 LMU run got the home team within a point at 17-16 thanks to a combined block by Cory and Walker and a Red Flash attacking error. However, Saint Francis University won five consecutive points at 19-18 to take a commanding 24-18 lead before tying up the match on a kill from Michael Fisher.
 
The Railsplitters jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the third set but a 5-2 Red Flash run quickly got the visitors within one at 10-9. A Walker kill capped a 7-2 LMU run and put the Railsplitters in front 17-11 but once again, Saint Francis University responded and went on a 6-2 run to get within two at 19-17. LMU won six of the ensuing eight points to go up 2-1 in the match on a Red Flash serving error.
 
Four-straight Saint Francis University points put the Red Flash ahead 10-7 in the fourth set and the visitors built a 14-9 lead on a Railsplitter attack error. LMU would then get within two three times, at 15-13, 16-14 and 17-15, but another four-point Saint Francis University run virtually put the set out of reach at 21-15. After claiming three of the final four points of the set, the Red Flash evened up the contest once again, this time at 2-2 with a kill from Blake Liprando
 
Saint Francis University built a 3-1 lead early in the deciding set before kills from Cory and junior outside hitter Logan Kerley knotted the score at three-all. A kill from Carvalho and another by Cory gave the Railsplitters a 5-4 edge with Cory rising up for two more kills at 5-5 and 6-6. Neither team could create separation from the other before kills from Negron and Cory and a block by Kerley and Carvalho gave LMU a 12-10 advantage. Another pair of blocks, this time from Kerley and Carvalho and then Walker and Cory put the Railsplitters in position to win the match at 14-11. Following a service error, Cory rose up for his 15th kill of the afternoon and landed it home for LMU's first Division I triumph.
 
Fisher led the Red Flash with a match-high 23 kills and seven digs, while Liprando finished with 11 kills and Joshua Blair eight. Brandon Dunz had a team-best 10 blocks for Saint Francis University and Roman Szwabinsky assisted on 40 of the Red Flash's 48 kills with Ryan Alu making 12 digs.
 
Up Next…
The Railsplitters have nearly a week off from match play before returning to Mary Mars Gym next Friday, Jan. 31 for a 7 p.m. tilt with Belmont Abbey.
 
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.