NEWBERRY, S.C. - The Newberry College volleyball team played host to Lincoln Memorial on Friday night with an opportunity to draw even with the Railsplitters in the South Atlantic Conference Standings. Newberry (15-10, 5-5 SAC) opened the match in impressive fashion, but an opening-set comeback victory for Lincoln Memorial (15-4, 7-3 SAC) left Newberry disheartened. Newberry contended in the ensuing sets but failed to win one as they fell in three sets by scores of 27-25, 25-18, 25-20.

The early stages of the match played to Newberry's favor as they opened the match with a 6-0 advantage before surrendering a point. The teams then exchanged several points until LMU methodically pulled even with Newberry, ultimately tying the match and leading for the first time by a score of 24-23. Newberry fended off several set-point efforts, but failed to ever earn a set-point opportunity of their own. The Railsplitters eventually managed to string points together and won the set 27-25.

The opening-set loss was visibly defeating, but Newberry didn't back down immediately. The second set was contested closely, with several ties and neither team holding a bigger lead than a couple of points in the opening stages. Without warning, LMU's blocking core surged to live and Newberry struggled to get their attacks past them. The Railsplitters utilized their blocking to go on a 9-1 run and put the set out of reach. By the time the dust had settled, LMU had racked up an impressive 18 blocks in the match.

Just like in the second, Newberry opened the third set by playing evenly with the Railsplitters. Newberry issued several runs of three and four points to the Railsplitters; however, and slowly let it slip away. The scarlet and gray would manage a late 5-1 run to draw close, but a service error would eventually end the set and the match.

The Newberry team wore pink warmup shirts, socks and athletic tape to promote breast cancer awareness.

Newberry's attack was led by senior Lorena Maia (Belo Horizonte, Brazil). She tallied 12 kills and a block on the evening. Brianna Blakely (Houston, Texas) shouldered most of the defense and accumulated 20 digs, her third highest this season.

Newberry will play another tough match tomorrow against Carson-Newman. It will be the final home match before a four-match road stretch. The match is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. in Eleazer Arena.