HARROGATE, Tenn. – On the heels of a dominant straight-set road rout of The University of Virginia's College at Wise Tuesday, the Lincoln Memorial University women's volleyball team played a pair of tightly-contested sets Friday night versus Anderson University inside historic Mary E. Mars Gymnasium. Despite winning a marathon opening set, the Lady Railsplitters (3-6, 3-6 SAC) were unable to hold off the visiting Trojans (6-2, 6-2) in another lengthy set before Anderson took the last two stanzas of the South Atlantic Conference home tilt.
 
A thrilling 30-28 set one win by LMU was followed by a two-point, 26-24 set two loss as the Trojans continued their momentum en route to 25-13 and 25-16 set three and set four victories.
 
Unable to overcome Anderson's 15 total team blocks and 10 aces, the Lady Railsplitters were limited to a .106 attack with 45 kills and 30 attack errors. Racking up 61 kills across the four sets, the Trojans recorded a .209 attack percentage highlighted by a .407 clip in the third set and a .302 mark in the fourth. Anderson notched at least 13 kills in each of the four sets and committed just seven attack errors throughout the final two. After laying down 27 kills during the first two sets, LMU posted only 18 in the last two.
 
Sets one and two saw a combined 20 ties and eight lead changes with both squads putting together impressive runs. Winning five of the opening six points of the match, the Lady Railsplitters took a 5-1 lead in the first set off a kill by junior opposite hitter Gabriela Abreu. Leading 12-8 after a block by freshman middle blocker Richlyn Ross and sophomore middle blocker Sierrah Lemons, LMU witnessed an 11-0 Trojan run that put the visitors in front 19-12. The Lady Railsplitters then went on a 7-1 run to get within one at 20-19 on another Abreu kill. After Anderson won the next two points, LMU put together four consecutive points to retake the lead at 23-22. Exchanging blows, the Lady Railsplitters reached their first set point of the evening at 24-23 with a kill from senior middle blocker Yileen Ng He. From there, the Trojans won three of the ensuing four points to gain their first set point at 26-25 off a block by Maya Learmonth and Neely Shugart. Back-to-back Anderson attack errors gave LMU a third set point at 27-26 but a Learmonth kill knotted the score once more at 27. An Abreu kill followed by an Abreu attack error tied things at 28 before kills from Abreu and Ng He finally brought and end to set one and gave the Lady Railsplitters a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Neither team could create any separation from the other in the second set before the Trojans put together five-straight points to take an 18-14 lead. Winning four of five points, Anderson built a six-point advantage at 22-16 but LMU would respond with four consecutive points of its own capped by a service ace from freshman opposite hitter Oliva Snyder. The Trojans would own four set points at 24-20, however, the Lady Railsplitters showed no signs of quitting. Winning four-straight points, LMU got a block from Ng He to even the score at 24. Weathering the Lady Railsplitters' comeback, Anderson's Sadie Kluner launched back-to-back kills to give the Trojans a 26-24 set two triumph.
 
Energized by the dramatic ending to set two, Anderson claimed eight of the first nine points of the third set and took a commanding 14-3 lead on a kill by Noelle Knutsen. A 6-1 LMU run got the Lady Railsplitters within six at 15-9 but the visitors gave up just four more points for the remainder of the set as the Trojans secured a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
A strong start to set four resulted in a 7-4 LMU lead after a kill by sophomore middle blocker Kaley Long. After Anderson went on a 6-1 run to push in front 10-8, the Lady Railsplitters knotted things at 10 on a solo block from Ng He and evened the score at 12 on a kill by redshirt sophomore outside hitter Caitlin Bethell. However, another 6-1 Trojan run put Anderson up 18-13 and LMU would not win consecutive points the rest of the way. The Trojans closed out the match on Anderson's third 6-1 run of the set.
 
Abreu led the way with her fifth double-double of the season, registering a team-best 14 kills and 12 digs. Ng He finished with a season-high 11 kills and added four blocks, while Ross tallied seven kills and senior libero Sarah Jones made a team-high 17 digs. Junior setter Emily Walter claimed her sixth double-double of 2020-21 with a team-high 35 assists and 16 digs.
 
Regan Duty led the Trojans with a match-high 16 kills and Learmonth provided 15 and Kluner 10. Anderson got eight blocks from both Duty and Knutsen as Neely Shugart served a match-best four aces and Alexandra Petrilli got to a match-high 19 digs. Madison Roy assisted on 51 of the Trojans' 61 kills.
 
Up Next…
The Lady Railsplitters wrap up the regular season Saturday at 2 p.m. when LMU hosts Newberry College for senior day. Both Jones and Ng He, the Lady Railsplitters' lone seniors, will be honored prior to 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 Lady Railsplitter volleyball throughout the 2020-21 season.