JEFFERSON CITY, TN – The Lady Railsplitter volleyball team picked up a huge 3-0 win Wednesday night over the Lady Eagles of Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee. 

Lincoln Memorial won a close battle with the Lady Eagles in game-one, coming away with a 32-30 victory which set the tone for the remainder of the match.  LMU eventually won games two and three 30-25 and 30-21 to pull their first SAC win of the year and improve to 1-0 in league play.

The Lady Railsplitters entered Wednesday’s match playing without a true setter on the team following the departure of freshman setter Leah Cagle (Hendersonville, NC).  Last week, Cagle chose to leave the team for undisclosed reasons which made things extremely difficult for the squad, due to the fact that last year’s starting setter Amber Vanderlin (Mesquite, TX) is also currently out of the lineup.  The situation left LMU Head Coach Mike Smith with the problem of who to start at setter.  And, to make matters worse, it would be in the team’s conference opener.

Earlier in the week Smith made the decision to move freshman Lauren Kiwacka (Tipp City, OH) into the setter position.  Smith’s call raised the eyebrows of some, since Kiwacka had only 12 collegiate games under her belt, all as a starting middle blocker and had never played setter in competitive volleyball.  Still, Smith knew someone had to fill the position and Kiwacka was his choice.

LMU came out in the opening game on Wednesday and won an inspirational 32-30 decision.  “That game really set the stage for the rest of the night,” said Smith.  “When we won that game, there was no way we were going to lose that match.”  Win is exactly what the Lady Railsplitters did.  The LMU women shut down their arch rival in the final two games to take a huge momentum building victory into their next SAC match on September 18 at home against Mars Hill College.

Now 9-4 overall, the young but talented Lady Railsplitter volleyball team must enjoy Wednesday night’s effort, but also prepare for this weekend’s non-conference bouts with St. Joseph’s College and Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, Kentucky.  The victory over the Lady Eagles should give the LMU women a huge boost of confidence when they take the floor again in Owensboro.