HARROGATE, Tenn. – On the heels of its third consecutive winning campaign, the two-time defending Independent Volleyball Association (IVA) champion Lincoln Memorial University men's volleyball program begins its fifth season of competition Saturday afternoon inside historic Mary E. Mars Gymnasium. The Railsplitters welcome the Bobcats of Lees-McRae College for a 2 p.m. season-opening first serve in Harrogate.
 
How to Follow
Saturday afternoon's match will be streamed live via SAC Live on Stretch Internet, while live statistics of the contest can be followed by visiting LMURailsplitters.com.
 
Limited Attendance
Due to the ongoing public health crisis of the COVID-19 global pandemic, LMU Athletics has a revised attendance policy for home volleyball matches during the 2021 season. Mary Mars Gym will have a limited capacity of 10% in an effort of promoting and prioritizing the health and safety of student-athletes and match day personnel. The following groups of individuals are the only permitted attendees for home LMU athletic events held inside Mary Mars Gym: student-athlete pass list designees, L Club members, 50 students, dignitaries and match day personnel. In line with LMU's COVID-19 policies and protocols, specific guidelines have been outlined to keep the health and safety of the LMU community the athletic department's top priority. For LMU Athletics' complete COVID-19 game day policies, please click here.
 
Saturday will mark LMU's first volleyball match in 310 days after the COVID-19 global pandemic brought an abrupt halt to the Railsplitters' 2020 season following a 3-0 home sweep of Alderson Broaddus University on March 11. Closing 2020 on a nine-match winning streak, LMU looks to pick up where it left off. A victory Saturday would give the Railsplitters their longest winning streak in program history as LMU has not lost since Feb. 9 of last year.
 
Capturing back-to-back IVA Tournament titles in 2018 and 2019, the Railsplitters have gone an impressive 46-24 (.657) over their last three seasons. In Harrogate, LMU has been nearly unstoppable with a remarkable 30-2 (.938) home record since the start of 2018. With only one blemish inside Mary Mars Gym in the last three years, the Railsplitters have gone 30-1 and have won 27 straight inside their home venue.
 
One of the most respected men's volleyball programs in the country outside of the major conference, LMU has ranked in the top five nationally in opponent hitting percentage for three-straight years and led the nation in blocks per set in 2018 (2.84). The Railsplitters led all of NCAA Division I-II men's volleyball in opponent hitting percentage in 2019 (0.213) and were third in blocks per set (2.56), not to mention ranking second in aces per set (1.92).
 
Last season, LMU was fifth nationally in both opponent hitting percentage (0.198) and aces per set (1.83) while posting a 14-4 record. On Jan. 20, 2020, history was made inside B. Frank "Tex" Turner Arena as the first-ever volleyball match was played inside the building when the Railsplitters hosted top-ranked University of Hawai'i at Manoa. The matchup drew over 2,000 spectators and marked the first Division I No. 1 team the university had hosted in any sport. Just five days later on Jan. 25, LMU recorded its first-ever victory over a Division I opponent when the Railsplitters upended Saint Francis University in a five-set thriller inside Mary Mars Gym. The season also included an exciting five-set win over visiting King on Feb. 15. Trailing by two sets and 6-2 in the decisive fifth set, LMU staged an improbable comeback as senior middle hitter Pedro Carvalho served a program-record 11 service aces.
 
Led by fourth-year head coach John Cash, who has brought unheralded success to the program, the Railsplitters have gone 32-11 over their last two seasons. At the conclusion of its 2019 campaign, LMU ranked No. 17 in the NCAA RPI.
 
The Railsplitters return 17 letter winners in 2021, including a trio of 2020 Off the Block, Frisco Mo All-Independent Team performers in Carvalho, junior setter AJ Risavy and sophomore middle/right side hitter Dawson Walker. Carvalho, who led the country in blocks per set back-to-back seasons as a sophomore and junior, led LMU and all independent team players in attack percentage (.444), aces per set (0.52) and blocks per set (1.04) in 2020. A 2020 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American^®, Risavy was the Railsplitters' top setter last year with 457 assists in 46 sets. He led the IVA and ranked 13th nationally in assists per set. At 6-foot-7, Walker led LMU's front line last season with a team-best 58 blocks and was 28th nationally in blocks per set (0.94).
 
In addition to Carvalho, Risavy and Walker, the Railsplitters return a host of talented players with both youth and experience throughout LMU's 19-man roster. Junior defensive specialist/libero Matt Bridenbaugh, a 2019 IVA All-Tournament Team member, junior libero/outside hitter Logan Kerley, sophomore outside hitter Johansen Negron, sophomore setter Ryan Foy and sophomore outside hitter Jacob Titus are all primed for standout seasons. Negron was second on the team in kills (117) a year ago and Foy racked up 199 assists in 11 matches.
 
Second-year players Matthew Gentry, Attia Soliman, Will Eiken, Cole Campisano, Ishaan Melwani, Ethan Hubbard and Justin Sharfenaker will all be called upon for expanded roles with the void left by the Railsplitters' first National Volleyball Association (NVA)/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-American, Evan Cory. As a credit to their skill level, Kerley, Walker, Gentry and Eiken were selected to USA Volleyball's 2020 U.S. Beach Collegiate National Team last May. LMU will also have the services of a pair of newcomers in freshman defensive specialist standout Jacob Miller and sophomore middle hitter Lucas Chazo, a John Tyler Community College transfer.
 
All 17 of the Railsplitters' returning players were not charged a year of eligibility for the 2020 season as the NCAA granted a blanket waiver for spring championship student-athletes.
 
Versus the Bobcats
LMU is 4-1 all-time versus Lees-McRae with the Railsplitters winning each of the last four meetings between to the two teams. Owning a 3-0 record against the Bobcats in Harrogate, LMU swept Lees-McRae 3-0 on Feb. 15 last season. The Railsplitters did not allow the Bobcats to score more than 12 points in any set inside Mary Mars Gym behind a .424 attack percentage and 36 kills.
 
Each of the last two years, LMU has begun its season with a straight-set triumph. The Railsplitters defeated Campbellsville University to kick off their 2019 slate and toppled Mount Olive to begin 2020.
 
Stay Up to Date
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 2021 season.