HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Newberry College volleyball team defeated Lincoln Memorial 3-2 (23-25, 30-28, 25-22, 13-25, 15-11) Friday night at Mary Mars Gym to win their fourth South Atlantic Conference match in a row. LMU started the contest atop the South Atlantic Conference standings.

Newberry is now 13-10 overall and 10-5 in SAC play. Lincoln Memorial is now 17-4 overall and 11-2 in conference play. This marks the fifth straight season Lincoln Memorial and Newberry have split regular season meetings.

Logan Hayward notched a double-double with a match-high 20 kills and 10 digs. Hayward’s 20 kills mark the highest total by a Newberry player this season. Madison Darby-McClure tallied 14 kills and Toni-Anne Whitlow recorded 11 off of the bench. Darby-McClure also totaled six block assists. Sidra Triplett notched 10 kills.

Maggie Marsh dished out 51 assists and Kensley Jordan tallied 27 digs for the highest total by a Newberry player this year. 65 total team kills and 10.0 total blocks are the most Newberry has posted as a team this season.

The first set started off neck and neck as the teams were tied at 10-10. Lincoln Memorial led 19-16 before Newberry tied the set at 20-20. Hayward’s kill tied the set at 23-23, but two straight LMU points gave the Lady Railsplitters a 25-23 set one win.

The Wolves led early in set two by a score of 5-2. Newberry continued its strong play and led 17-13. Lincoln Memorial rallied back with a 7-4 spurt to pull within 21-20. LMU fought off two set points after Newberry led 24-22 to tie the set at 24-24. Neither team could gain separation as the set was tied four separate times. After it was tied 28-28, the Wolves cashed in on two LMU errors to win the set 30-28. Hayward led Newberry with five kills in the second set.

Lincoln Memorial ran out to an 11-7 lead in the third set. The Lady Railsplitters continued to lead 17-13 before Newberry went on a 12-5 run to close out the set. The Wolves scored the last six points in a row to win by a score of 25-22. Hayward notched seven kills in the frame and Newbery hit a match-best .357.

Newberry led 5-1 early in the fourth set. LMU controlled the set the rest of the way, never trailing after leading 6-5. The Lady Railsplitters went on to win set four, 25-13.

The fifth and final set started out back and forth as it was tied 4-4. Newberry rattled off four straight points to lead 8-4. Lincoln Memorial clawed their way back to trail 9-8. The Wolves led 12-11 and scored the final three points of the set to win 15-11 in the final frame. The win solidified Newberry’s claim on fourth place in the SAC standings.

Liz Brock totaled 23 kills and 14 digs for LMU. Abby Cash tallied 50 assists and 21 digs.

Newberry will face Carson-Newman (3-18, 2-11 SAC) tomorrow at 5 p.m.