SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Lincoln Memorial men's volleyball team defeated No. 7 UC Santa Barbara in five sets (25-23, 21-25, 25-22, 17-25, 15-12) on Friday night in its second match of the Asics Invitational. Shay Spadaro (18 kills, .484 hitting percentage) and Matthew Gentry (12 kills, .524 hitting percentage) had big nights to lead the Railsplitters to their first win of the season.

Set 1: Lincoln Memorial 25-23
Four Spadaro kills sparked a 5-1 Lincoln Memorial run to give the Railsplitters a 12-10 lead midway through the opening set. Trailing by two points at 20-18, a kill from Kohl Kutsch highlighted a 3-0 Lincoln Memorial run to regain the advantage. The two teams traded points until the Railsplitters took the last two, clinching the set on a Gentry kill. Spadaro led the way for the Lincoln Memorial offense with seven terminations in the first frame.

Set 2: UC Santa Barbara 25-21
An early 5-0 scoring streak from the Gauchos gave the hosts a 12-5 lead. Lincoln Memorial fought back with a 4-0 run consisting of a Cole Campisano ace and kills by Johan Negron and Ethan Morgan. Later back-to-back kills from Gentry and Spadaro got the visitors to within two points at 22-20, but the hosts clinched the set on a kill by Nick Amoruso. Spadaro put down five kills while Gentry had four in the second frame.

Set 3: Lincoln Memorial 25-22
Morgan had a kill as part of a 4-1 Railsplitter rally to put them ahead 8-6 early. A later 4-0 Lincoln Memorial streak consisting of a Gentry ace and kills along with kills by Morgan and Spadaro gave the Railsplitters a 16-13 advantage. The Gauchos regained the lead at 18-17, but back-to-back aces from Campisano capped another 4-0 rally for the visitors to give them a 21-18 lead. Two terminations from Spadaro and one from Negron helped Lincoln Memorial clinch and go a set up once again. Negron and Spadaro both posted three kills in the third frame.

Set 4: UC Santa Barbara 25-17
After Lincoln Memorial started out with a 5-1 advantage, UC Santa Barbara controlled the remainder of the set, taking 24 of the final 36 points to force a fifth game. Negron went for four kills in the fourth frame.

Set 5: Lincoln Memorial 15-12
The Gauchos used a 3-point rally to tie the score at 6-6, but the visitors had a 4-1 run to open up a 10-7 lead. UC Santa Barbara responded right back to tie it at 10-all, but two Spadaro terminations, including the clinching kill, propelled the Railsplitters to victory. Campisano and Spadaro had a pair of kills each in the deciding frame.

Stat of the Match
Lincoln Memorial hit .727 in the first set (17 kills on 22 swings with only one error).

Inside the Box Score
- Spadaro added two digs to his 18 kills.
- Gentry came up with 14 points on the 12 digs plus two block assists and an ace.
- Negron posted 10 kills and six digs while adding an ace, an assist and a block.
- Kutsch stuffed the stat sheet with 48 assists, six digs, five blocks and three kills.

Up Next
Lincoln Memorial concludes the west coast trip by facing CSUN on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT in its third match of the Asics Invitational.