ANDERSON, S.C. - The Anderson University volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (26-24, 23-25, 26-28, 10-25) South Atlantic Conference decision to visiting Tusculum Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center.

The narrow setback dampened Anderson's Homecoming celebration, as the Trojans slipped to 11-14 overall and 4-11 in conference play with their fourth setback in the last five outings. Tusculum moved to 16-6 overall and 10-4 with its third consecutive win.

Both teams had three players tally double-figure kills, with two on each squad posting double-doubles. Sophomore Shannon Gillespie recorded her fifth consecutive double-double and 14th of the season with a team-high 13 kills and added 16 digs. Freshman Victoria Wehrmann notched her first collegiate double-double with 12 kills and 16 digs and senior Tiffany Rowe added 12 kills. Sophomore Meghan Cautero dished out a team-high 44 assists, while Alix Hooker notched 27 digs. Sophomore Kelley Lacey posted 21 digs on the afternoon.

The Pioneers' Sam Underwood garnered 16 kills and added 19 digs, while Megan Hasse tallied 15 kills and 12 digs. Ashley Sarmiento handed out 51 assists, with teammate Caitlyn Dean chipping in 47 digs.

The Trojans posted an impressive .326 hitting percentage en route to claiming a win in the opening set. The frame featured 10 ties, with neither team able to build more than a three-point lead - the last coming on a kill by AU sophomore Hailey Pittman that gave the Trojans a 14-11 edge. The Pioneers battled back to take a one-point lead three times, but Anderson rallied each time and claimed the final two points of the set on back-to-back errors by Tusculum.

The second set saw the Pioneers push out to a 10-6 lead, only to see Anderson rally with a 10-3 run and gain a 16-13 advantage. The Trojans capitalized on four Tusculum errors, while Gillespie and Lacey each posted two kills during the outburst. A kill from Pittman gave AU an 18-14 lead, but a 6-2 run from TC evened the score at 20 apiece. With the score tied yet again at 23-23, Tusculum earned the win with a kill from Alyssa Raterman and a Trojan miscue.

Anderson rallied from a 12-6 deficit in the third set to eventually even the score at 18-18 and claimed its last lead at 21-20 on a block by Rowe. Each time Tusculum took a one-point lead, the Trojans answered by evening the score, but AU was unable to regain the lead and TC earned the narrow set win on a kill from Raterman and a block by Kassie Voelker.

The Pioneers scored the first six points of the fourth set, as Tusculum built a 10-2 lead and the Trojans were unable to recover.

Augusta State invades the Abney Center on Tuesday in the Trojans' final nonconference contest. First-serve versus the Jaguars is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The AU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is sponsoring a Halloween costume contest that will take place between the second and third sets of the match, with the winner receiving a Wedgy's Pizza gift certificate.