HARROGATE, Tenn. ---The Lincoln Memorial University volleyball team jumped out to a quick two-set lead, but had to fend off a furious Tusculum College rally as the Railsplitters held on for a 3-2 victory Wednesday night at Mars Gym in the South Atlantic Conference opener for both teams.
LMU (4-1, 1-0 SAC) won the match by scores of 25-18, 25-22, 22-25, 28-30, 15-7.
Kiera Holland led the Railsplitters with 21 kills and 18 digs to go along with her .347 hitting percentage. Teammate Samantha Cash added 18 kills and 15 digs, while setter Abby Cash posted a double-double with 55 assists and 14 digs in the win.
The Pioneers (3-2, 0-1 SAC) were paced by Rachel Garnett's 14 kills, while Cassie Born and Kayli Dempster each tallied 11 kills apiece. Born also added dozen digs for the visitors. Setter Shannon Murphy contributed 32 assists and seven digs, while Hallie Zumack finished with 23 digs, two service aces and a 12 digs. Tusculum sophomore libero Melissa Mazur led all players with 31 digs, while Sarah Bouley contributed nine kills in the road loss.
LMU jumped out to 2-0 lead winning the first two sets by scores of 25-18 and 25-22. Liz Brock led the LMU charge with four kills as the Splitters posted a .300 hitting percentage in the opening set and used a 9-4 run to start the match. In the second set, Holland tallied six kills as LMU rallied from a 16-11 deficit using a 6-0 spurt to mount the comeback and take the 2-0 lead in the match.
Tusculum answered in the third set with a 25-22 win as Garnett recorded five kills and Bouley contributed four of her own. Trailing 10-9 early, TC went on an 8-2 run to take a 17-12 lead, which included three kills by Bouley during the spurt. LMU trimmed the deficit three on several occasions down the stretch, before Garnett finished off the frame with a kill on TC's fourth set point to trim the deficit to 2-1.
The fourth set was one to remember in this historic series between the two East Tennessee rivals. Tusculum jumped out to a 14-9 lead after a Garnett kill. LMU answered with a 5-0 run to tie the set at 14-14. With the score knotted at 16-16, TC scored three straight thanks to a LMU attack error and kills from Laryssa Welch and Born to lead 19-16.
Tusculum led 24-22 after a Mariah Lewis kill, but LMU fought off a pair of set points to tie the frame at 24-24. The contest went back and forth with Lincoln Memorial gaining match point at 27-26. But Born and Bouley answered with back-to-back kills to gain the sideout. With the score tied at 28-28, Bouley gave TC the lead with a kill and contributed on a block with Lewis to gain the 30-28 win and send the contest to a deciding set.
In the fifth set, LMU posted a .357 attack percentage, while holding the Pioneers to minus-.091 as the Railsplitters won the deciding frame 15-7 and win the match. In the set, LMU jumped out to a 4-1 lead and eventually increased its advantage to 9-4 before a Tusculum timeout. TC trimmed the deficit to 9-5 after a Lewis kill, but LMU closed out the match with a 6-2 run to seal the victory.
Lincoln Memorial finished the match hitting .251 as a team, while Tusculum accounted for a .194 hitting percentage. Each team finished with five service aces, while LMU edged TC defensively in digs, 81-78.
After playing its first five matches on the road, the Pioneers will play its home opener on Tuesday when they host Mars Hill University for a 7 p.m. league match at Pioneer Arena.
