HARROGATE, Tenn. – Hosting defending South Atlantic Conference tournament and NCAA Division II Southeast Region champion Carson-Newman University, the Lincoln Memorial University women's volleyball team competed for an entertaining five sets late Friday afternoon in Harrogate. Playing their first match inside historic Mary E. Mars Gymnasium in three weeks, the Lady Railsplitters (2-5, 2-5 SAC) took a pair of sets off of the visiting Eagles (5-2, 5-2 SAC) and held a 2-1 lead before ultimately falling 15-13 in a deciding fifth set.
 
Serving a season-best 12 aces, LMU tallied 62 kills off a .151 attack and owned a slight edge in total team blocks at 7-6. Led by junior opposite hitter Gabriela Abreu's career double-double of 25 kills and 29 digs, the Lady Railsplitters got a career-high 25 digs from junior setter Emily Walter and another 21 from senior libero Sarah Jones.
 
Carson-Newman posted 61 kills across the five sets and attacked at a .188 clip as both teams were efficient in the second set with attack percentages over .300. LMU notched 14 kills in the first four sets before attacking at only a .115 mark in the all-important fifth set. Contrarily, the Eagles hit .231 in the final set with 10 kills.
 
Both squads attacked at just under .100 in the opening set as the Lady Railsplitters won the first three points of the match. A 5-0 Carson-Newman run gave the visitors a 5-3 lead before the Eagles went on a 6-1 run to pull in front 17-13. Trailing 19-15, six consecutive LMU points capped by a service ace from freshman opposite hitter Olivia Snyder gave the Lady Railsplitters a 21-19 lead. Knotted at 22-all, a kill by sophomore middle blocker Sierrah Lemons and back-to-back Abreu kills clinched the first set at 25-22.
 
LMU swung at a .306 clip in the second set and totaled 14 kills while Carson-Newman laid down 17 kills on a .455 attack in set two. A 7-2 Eagle run put Carson-Newman up by five at 15-10 before the Lady Railsplitters responded with four-straight points. Extending its run to 8-2, LMU took an 18-17 lead in the stanza when the Eagles committed a ball handling error on a pass. Carson-Newman would win the next three points and an Abreu kill made it 20-19 in favor of the guests. The Eagles went on to win five of the ensuing six points with a kill by sophomore middle blocker Kaley Long serving as the Lady Railsplitters' lone point for the remainder of the set.
 
With the match tied at a set apiece thanks to the 25-20 set two win by Carson-Newman, LMU responded by holding the Eagles to nine kills and a .070 attack in the third set. An Abreu ace capped a five-point Lady Railsplitter run that gave the home team an early 8-4 lead. Four-straight LMU points put the Lady Railsplitters in front 12-5 and kills from freshman outside hitter Kristen Moehring and Abreu made it 16-7. An ace by freshman outside hitter Katie Cardenas made it a 10-point set at 22-12 before Carson-Newman made a late comeback attempt. Six consecutive Eagle points on set point at 24-14 got the visiting team within four but Abreu rose up for a kill to close out the set at 25-20.
 
An extremely tight fourth set saw the two teams combine for 26 kills with LMU compiling 14 kills off a .146 attack and Carson-Newman 12 kills off a .214 attack percentage. After losing the first four points of the set, the Lady Railsplitters responded with a 6-1 run to take a 6-5 lead early. An 8-1 LMU run gave the hosts a 16-12 lead on an Abreu kill but the Eagles took a 17-16 advantage following five consecutive points. Consecutive aces from Jones pushed the Lady Railsplitters out in front 19-17 and another Abreu kill made it 20-19 in favor of LMU. From there, Carson-Newman would claim five-straight points to earn four set points at 24-20. An Abreu kill and ace, in addition to an Eagle attack error, made things interesting at 24-23, but a Lady Railsplitter attack error ended the set at 25-23.
 
Carson-Newman opened up the decisive fifth set by jumping out to an 8-3 lead and extended its advantage to 11-5 following three consecutive Eagle points. However, LMU would not go away quietly. The Lady Railsplitters proceeded to win eight of the next 10 points, tying up the set at 13 after an Abreu kill, Jones ace and Carson-Newman attack error. A kill by the Eagles' Megan Oldenburger and a LMU attack error gave Carson-Newman the nail-biting victory at 15-13.
 
Long finished with 10 kills and four blocks and freshman middle blocker Richlyn Ross recorded nine kills, while Jones served a career-high tying four aces and Walter assisted on 47 kills. In addition to her career highs in kills and digs, Abreu earned a trio of blocks along with Lemons.
 
The Eagles were led by Oldenburger's 20 kills, 18 digs and four aces and Carson-Newman got 13 kills and four blocks from Erin Edwards. Hayden Barton registered a match-high 31 digs and Taylor Rohr reached a double-double of 28 assists and 19 digs for the Eagles.
 
Up Next…
The Lady Railsplitters return to match action Tuesday night at The University of Virginia's College at Wise. First serve from inside the David J. Prior Convocation Center in Wise, Virginia, is slated for 7 p.m.
 
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 volleyball throughout the 2020-21 season.