HARROGATE, TENN. – In the team's third straight match away from home, the Queens University of Charlotte women's volleyball team fell 3-1 (25-13, 25-22, 22-25, 25-20) to fellow South Atlantic Conference member Lincoln Memorial University on Friday night.
Queens (5-5, 1-2 SAC) suffered its fourth straight loss after hitting just .094 in the match but did record eight service aces. Lincoln Memorial (5-2, 1-0) tallied a .217 hitting mark, including hitting over the .300 mark in the first two sets, in securing its first league win of the season.
The Railsplitters were in control early on, taking the first set 25-13 after committing only one attack error. The Royals were able to hold a 3-2 lead to start the second set, but a 13-1 run from LMU put the home team in front en route to a 2-0 advantage in the match.
Queens opened the third set with another 3-2 lead following a kill from sophomore
Chanel Turner who returned after missing the last two weeks of action.
The advantage extended to 14-6 for the Royals after consecutive kills from sophomore
Logan Witt before Lincoln Memorial closed the deficit to just one point. A 7-2 run for Queens put the visitors out in front by five as a Turner kill ended the third set and extended the match.
Lincoln Memorial rebounded by beginning the fourth set on an 8-2 run to gain control. The Royals battled back and eventually took a 19-18 lead late in the set on back-to-back service aces from sophomore
JayCee Jones. However, the Railsplitters ended the match on a 7-1 run to earn the home victory.
Witt and fellow sophomore
Casey Tarvin led all players with 12 kills apiece as Witt turned in a .308 hitting performance. Turner followed with eight kills of her own and 10 digs on defense, while redshirt-freshman
Gabbi Montgomery had six kills and two total blocks.
Junior
Mallory Swarts paced the offense with 32 assists to go along with two service aces, while Jones had three service aces and a team-high 29 digs from the back row.
Queens completes its road trip tomorrow afternoon when the Royals take on Tusculum University in Greeneville, Tenn. at 2 p.m.
