HARROGATE, Tenn. – For the second time of 2021 the Lincoln Memorial University men's volleyball team has picked up back-to-back wins after earning its second-straight 3-0 sweep Tuesday night over Emmanuel College inside historic Mary E. Mars Gymnasium. The Railsplitters (5-7) left no doubt as they controlled the match from early in the first set and held the visiting Lions (3-9) to only 18 points in the third and final stanza.
 
Behind a .278 attack LMU laid down 35 kills while making seven total team blocks at the net and recording four aces on its serve. Limited to a .137 attack, Emmanuel tallied 28 kills but committed 18 attack errors.
 
The straight-set Railsplitter victory avenged LMU's road loss to the Lions back on Feb. 13 and pushed the Blue and Gray's home record to 33-3 (.917) since the start of the 2018 season.
 
After Emmanuel scored the first two points of the match and took a 7-5 lead in the opening set, an 8-2 Railsplitter run capped by a kill and service ace from sophomore middle/right side hitter Dawson Walker gave LMU a 13-9 lead. The Railsplitters extended their advantage to five at 19-14 on a kill by freshman right side hitter Justin Sharfenaker before securing four set points at 24-20 on another Sharfenaker kill. The Lions threatened late with a strand of three points to get within one, but an Emmanuel service error ended the set at 25-23.
 
Registering 13 kills in the first set with a .250 attack, LMU swung at a .304 clip in the second set with only four attack errors and 11 kills. Despite trailing 3-2 in the early going, the Railsplitters quickly went up 7-3 after a 5-0 run. Knotted at eight and nine-all, LMU preceded to go on a momentum-changing 7-2 run to take a 16-11 lead on an ace from sophomore outside hitter Jacob Titus following kills by senior middle hitter Pedro Carvalho and freshman outside hitter Cole Campisano. Back-to-back kills from Walker and Carvalho put the Railsplitters in front 22-17 before another Carvalho kill gave LMU set point at 24-20. Much like set one, a serving error by the visitors closed out the set at 25-21 as the Railsplitters took a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Once again totaling 11 kills in the third set, LMU notched a .286 attack percentage while the Lions hit just .077 with eight kills and six attack errors. The Railsplitters found themselves trailing by two four times early in the third before going on a 6-0 run to take a 10-6 lead off a Campisano ace. Kills by Carvalho and Walker pushed LMU's advantage to 17-13 before four-straight Railsplitter points made it 21-14. The two teams would split the ensuing eight points and consecutive Emmanuel errors at 23-18 made the match go final with a 25-18 concluding set.
 
Sharfenaker led the way with a match-high 12 kills as Walker posted eight kills and rose up for four blocks. Carvalho had seven kills and three blocks while Campisano served a pair of aces and junior setter AJ Risavy assisted on 33 of LMU's 35 kills and made four digs.
 
The Lions' Don Thompson had a team-best 10 kills and match-high five digs and Emmanuel got seven kills, four aces and two blocks from Aleksa Lakic.
 
Up Next…
The Railsplitters hit the road for a pair of rescheduled matches this weekend, taking on Queens University of Charlotte in North Carolina Saturday at 4 p.m. before heading to Limestone University Sunday for a 2 p.m. first serve.
 
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 2021 season.