JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — The Lincoln Memorial University volleyball team opened play at the Carson-Newman Classic on Friday, beginning the day with a 3-1 loss to Armstrong Atlantic State University, but turning around to defeat Lees-McRae College, 3-0. With the split, the Lady Railsplitters move to an even 3-3 on the season.

In the opening match of the day, the Lady Railsplitters and Lady Pirates fought to a 1-1 tie at the end of two sets. However, Armstrong Atlantic took command of the match in the next two to win, 3-1 (25-15, 18-25, 25-19, 25-17).

The Lady Railsplitters were paced in the contest by ten kills apiece from Jennifer Drumm and Kaitlin Walton. Blaire Fowler added nine kills in the match. Brittany Pugh and Kristen Cantrell led the Lady ‘Splitters with 15 digs. Pugh notched a double-double with 15 assists to go along with her dig performance. Allison Beavers led the offense with 17 assists.

Amanda Jones and Jessica Santaniello led the way for Armstrong Atlantic with 15 and 13 kills respectively. The offense ran through Ashley Seal as she notched 50 assists for the Lady Pirates.

In the first set, the two teams battled in the early points with the game remaining tight at 10-9 in favor of the Lady Pirates. Armstrong Atlantic would run away in the latter half of the set to take a 1-0 lead. LMU responded by taking the second set in wire-to-wire fashion, leading from start to finish.

The third set saw both teams trade points out to a 5-5 tie. The Lady Pirates would take the next four points to take command of the board, as they never trailed the rest of the set, winning by a margin of 25-19.

The Lady Railsplitters hung tight in the fourth set with the score at 10-7 in favor of Armstrong Atlantic at the midway point. However, the Lady Pirates used a 5-0 run at that juncture to put the fourth stanza out of reach, eventually taking a 25-17 victory to win the match.

LMU notched 45 kills in the match but they were bested in that category by the Lady Pirates’ 58 kills. The Lady Railsplitters hit .155 as a team to .275 in favor of Armstrong Atlantic. Armstrong Atlantic moves to 4-0 on the season with the win.