MIAMI SHORES, FL – Lincoln Memorial University men's volleyball is headed back to the IVA Championship match.

The top-seeded Railsplitters battled past Tusculum in a five-set semifinal thriller on Friday afternoon, taking the match by scores of 25-19, 21-25, 21-25, 25-19 and 15-10 at Barry University's Health & Sports Center. The win moves LMU to 16-6 on the season and sends the Railsplitters into Saturday's IVA Championship match as they look to capture an eighth straight league title.

Lincoln Memorial came out sharp and grabbed the opening set behind a balanced attack, hitting .310 in the frame. The Railsplitters built momentum late and closed the set on a service ace from Georgios Armaos to take a 1-0 lead.

Tusculum answered in the second and third sets, using efficient offense to pull in front in the match. The Pioneers hit .414 in set two and .297 in set three, edging the Railsplitters 25-21 and 25-21 to move within a set of the finals.

With the season hanging in the balance, LMU responded in a big way in the fourth. The Railsplitters hit .395 in the set and forced a deciding fifth behind a strong close that included a service ace from George Stevens before Johan Negron delivered the match-extending kill for a 25-19 win.

Lincoln Memorial carried that momentum straight into the fifth set. After a tightly contested start, the Railsplitters created separation behind timely points from Axel van Baars, Negron and Inbar Shachar. Stevens added another service ace during the run, and LMU finished off the comeback with a kill from Shachar for the 15-10 final.

Negron turned in a huge performance with 25 kills on .465 hitting to lead the Railsplitters, while van Baars added 14 kills and 10 digs. Shachar paced the offense with 50 assists and also posted 13 digs, five kills and three block assists. LMU also got strong work at the net from Relja Milosavljevic and Oisin Walsh, who each recorded four block assists, while Stevens gave the Railsplitters an important spark with two service aces. As a team, LMU totaled 60 kills, 49 digs and 8.5 total blocks in the win.

Lincoln Memorial will now play for the 2026 IVA Championship on Saturday, April 18, at 3 p.m. Eastern against the winner of Friday's Barry-Catawba semifinal. Where the Railsplitters will have a chance to secure their eighth straight IVA crown.