GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Despite a match-high 12 kills by senior outside hitter Megan Hasse, the Tusculum College volleyball team fell by a 3-0 margin to visiting Lincoln Memorial University on Tuesday night inside Pioneer Arena.

Tusculum falls to 10-10 overall and 9-3 in the South Atlantic Conference. Lincoln Memorial (11-9, 7-5 SAC) won the first set 25-20 before winning the second set 27-25 and closing out the match with a 25-17 third-set victory.

Hasse finished one dig shy of a double-double after digging up nine. Freshman setter Shannon Murphy recorded her first collegiate double-double with 16 assists and 13 digs, while sophomore libero Moriah Jones and freshman outside hitter Sabrina Schleuger each dug up 14 balls. Schleuger and sophomore outside hitter Rachel Garnett each compiled eight kills.

LMU was led by Kiera Holland who finished with 10 kills, nine digs, and three service aces. Three Railsplitters finished with double-figure digs led by Casey Mense who had a match-high 21. Abby Cash had a match-high 28 assists while Brooke Fleeman added nine kills.

After narrowly winning the first set by five, the Railsplitters held a slim 20-19 lead late in the second set. A quick 2-0 spurt by TC saw the Pioneers take its first lead of the set since holding a 3-1 early advantage. However, LMU fought back and took a 23-22 lead that forced the Pioneers to take a timeout.

After the break, Tusculum benefitted by two-straight attack errors by Holland to earn set-point holding a 24-23 lead. The Railsplitters responded with a timeout of their own, and then they benefited from a service error and an attack error by junior setter Hannah Berling to take a 25-24 lead and set point.

In the next rally, Hasse connected on a huge kill to knot the score at 25-25, and send the set to extra points. Holland answered the Hasse kill, with a strike of her own to give LMU a 26-25 lead, and then stepped to the line and recorded a service ace that fell in the Pioneer side off the top of the net to earn the Railsplitters the second-set victory.

LMU led the third set wire-to-wire, and used three 4-0 runs to close out the match with an eight-point third-set victory. With tonight's Railsplitter victory, the squads split the regular season series after TC defeated LMU 3-2 in Harrogate back on September 23.

The Pioneers will continue their four-match homestand on Friday night (Oct. 17) when they play host to Anderson University at 7 p.m.