LaGrange, Ga. – Following its opening weekend of play at the Shoals Beach Bash in Florence, Alabama, the Lincoln Memorial University beach volleyball team returned to the sand Friday afternoon in LaGrange, Georgia, where the Lady Railsplitters split a pair of matches with Huntingdon College and Carson-Newman.
 
Facing the Hawks (4-5) for the second-straight weekend, LMU (3-3) gained its third straight-set sweep of the young season and only gave up one set in the process.
 
The duos of sophomore Daytona State College transfer Gabriela Abreu and junior Sarah Jones and sophomores Emily Walter and Caitlin Bethell were the most dominant in the opening match of the weekend as the pairs gave up no more than 11 points in any set. Abreu and Jones rolled to a 21-9, 21-11 victory at the No. 3 line, while Walter and Bethell won 21-10 and 21-9.
 
Junior Yileen Ng He and freshman Emma Winford earned a straight-set 21-15, 21-12 win at the No. 2 spot and the freshmen tandem of Sierrah Lemons and Karlie Bowlin used set scores of 21-10 and 21-15 to take the fifth line.
 
Seniors Rylee Storms and Lindsey Nartker saw the most resistance at the top position but rebounded from a 21-12 first set loss with a 21-17 set win, before clinching the match with a 15-12 triumph in the decisive third set.
 
The undefeated Eagles (5-0) proved the be much more of a challenge for the Lady Railsplitters, who were only able to claim two of the five doubles matches in a competitive 3-2 setback.
 
Carson-Newman took the top three pairings as LMU gained wins at the No. 4 and No. 5 spots. Bethell and Walter continued their winning ways, earning a 21-18, 21-15 victory at the fourth position while Lemons and Bowlin were 21-18, 22-20 victors on court five.
 
Following wins at No. 2 and No. 3 by the Eagles' Lindsey Geurin and Maddison Bishop (21-17, 21-15) and Mia Toribio and Abby Struewing (21-14, 21-13), respectively, the match came down to the top spot. Nartker and Storms once again bounced back from an opening set loss (21-18) by taking the second set 21-16. However, Carson-Newman's Megan Oldenburger and Summer Coulter were able to hold on in the deciding third set, 15-12, to secure the dual for the Eagles.
 
Up Next…
The Lady Railsplitters continue play in LaGrange Saturday with a second meeting with Carson-Newman at 10 a.m. before taking on host LaGrange College at 12 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 beach volleyball throughout the 2020 season.