HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial women's volleyball team got back in action on their home court, but fell in three sets (16-25, 21-25, 16-25) to visiting Lenoir-Rhyne on Tuesday night.
 
Katie Cardenas paced the Lady Railsplitters with 10 kills on 29 attacks for the night. Cardenas also added five digs and an assist. Senior Emily Walter was one dig off another double-double has she tallied 14 assists and nine digs. Libero Sevgi Koyuncu lead the Splitter defense with 23 digs.
 
Lenoir-Rhyne was led by Ashley Hawkins on the offensive side with 12 kills while posting a .206 hitting percentage. MacKenzie Hulsey helped offensively for the Bears as she tallied 23 assists and also added nine digs in the contest.
 
The Bears jumped out of the cage early as they took an early 5-2 lead over the Splitters and did not look back. Lenoir-Rhyne used a seven-point run to take a 10-3 lead before a five-point urn by Lincoln Memorial moments later brought the score to 11-9 LR. The Bears picked up some steam and took down the Splitters in the first set, 25-16.
 
The second set saw the Lincoln Memorial offense come alive as they kept up with the high-paced offense of Lenoir-Rhyne with the Lady Railsplitters holding an early 6-5 advantage. The Bears responded with a five-point run to take a 10-6 lead. Lincoln Memorial was able to pull to within one, but Lenoir-Rhyne was able to keep their offense hot with quick runs to take a set two win, 25-21.
 
Coming out of the break, the Lady Railsplitters were able to keep their offense going before creating some separation with a 10-6 lead. Lenoir-Rhyne had other plans as a 12-point run by the Bears gave them a 18-10 lead. LMU tried to mount a comeback, but the Bears were able to subdue the attacks and capture the third set, 25-16, and the match win.
 
Up Next
 
The Lady Railsplitters will welcome Anderson to Mary Mars Gymnasium on Friday, October 29 for a first serve of 5:00 p.m. EST. LMU will look to even the season series with the Trojans as they took the first match in five sets, 3-2.
 
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 Lady Railsplitter women's volleyball across the 2021 season.