PHILIPPI, W. Va. – The Lincoln Memorial University men's volleyball program traveled down the country roads to West Virginia for a two-match day, capturing back-to-back sweeps over Alderson Broaddus and Carlow on Friday afternoon.
 
Game One – Lincoln Memorial 3, Alderson Broaddus 0
 
The Railsplitters controlled from the opening serve in the first, quickly going up 8-3 before a Battler timeout. Alderson Broaddus battled back to within four, but Lincoln Memorial was able to extend their lead to 19-10 moments later. Backed by Matthew Gentry at the serving line, the Railsplitters were able to use a 4-1 run to close out the first set, 25-14.
 
Lincoln Memorial did not stop in the first, taking the first point of the set, but the Battlers quickly evened things up with a kill from Gannon Chinen. It did not matter as the Railsplitters recorded a 7-0 run with Matt Friddle serving to take a commanding 8-1 lead into a ABU timeout. LMU was then able to extend their lead to 13-2 and held the lead for the remainder of the set to take a two-set match lead, 25-14.
 
Alderson Broaddus jumped out to an early 6-2 lead before Lincoln Memorial was able to settle down to even things at 7-all. The Battlers were able to control for a majority of the third set, seeing their lead increase to 18-13 over LMU. The Railsplitters came out of the timeout on fire as they used a 6-1 run to even things at 19-all, before sealing the straight set victory with a 25-23 third set win.
 
Johansen Negron led the way with 10 kills while posting a .615 hitting percentage in the win. Kohl Kutsch and Luigi Pacini both tallied double-digit assists as Kutsch assisted on 13 attacks while Pacini recorded 12 assists in the win.
 
Game Two – Lincoln Memorial 3, Carlow 0
 
The Railsplitters did not skip a beat as they came out to an early 6-4 lead, but the Celtics did not shy away in their first match of the day as Carlow was able to pull to within one at 7-6. Lincoln Memorial then powered to a commanding lead with a 7-1 run to take a 14-7 lead. The Railsplitters were able to steady themselves offensively to push their lead further before closing out set one with a 25-15 win.
 
Luigi Pacini tallied a total of five service aces to give Lincoln Memorial an 8-0 to open the second set before the Blue and Gray defense stood tall, holding the Celtic offense to a negative hitting percentage (-.250) to cruise to a 25-5 set two win.
 
The Lincoln Memorial defense was able to wreck more havoc as they held Carlow to a 0.000 hitting percentage in the final set as Lucas Chazo and Ishaan Melwani led the Railsplitters to a sweep over the Celtics as LMU took the third set, 25-8.
 
Will Eiken, John Luers, Diego Clark Keith, Pacini, Melwani and Chazo all played significant time during the win over Carlow.
 
Up Next
 
The Railsplitters will close out the 2022 regular season at home as they welcome the Pioneers of Tusculum to the Mary Mars Gymnasium on Saturday, April 9^th. First serve is set for 2 p.m. ET. Lincoln Memorial will host their annual Senior Day as the Splitters are set to honor Ryan Foy, Matt Friddle, Johansen Negron, Jacob Titus and Dawson Walker for their commitment to the program.