ROCK HILL, S.C. - On the eve of the 2013 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament, the junior tandem of Hailey Pittman and Shannon Gillespie have been named First-Team All-South Atlantic Conference, as announced by the league office Thursday morning.

"It is awesome to have two players named to the first team," said Anderson head coach Craig Mosqueda. "Hailey and Shannon are both very deserving of the honor. They matched up well against other leaders in the conference. Both have worked hard to improve their individual skill set in an effort to strengthen the team."

Pittman, from Orlando, Fla., was named SAC Player of the Week on Sept. 23 and boasts a team-best .325 attack percentage, which ranks fifth in the SAC. She recorded 370 kills during the regular season and averages 3.30 kills per set, which places the middle blocker fifth and seventh, respectively in those categories among the league's leaders. Pittman is second on the squad with 62 total blocks on the season and has reached double-figure kills on 23 occasions this season, including 11 straight matches. She posted a career-high 24 kills in both five-set matchups with Lincoln Memorial earlier this year and is only 154 kills away from moving into the top-10 in the school record books for kills.

Gillespie, who became just the ninth player in school history to reach the 1,000-kill plateau earlier this season and currently ranks eighth in the record books, leads the conference with 466 kills and also in kills per set (4.16), which is good enough for 13th in the country. She has displayed her versatility by ranking 10th in overall digs (402) in the SAC and 11th in digs per set with a 3.59 average. The 5-foot-10 outside hitter also paces the conference in points and points per set and ranks 17th nationally in that category. Gillespie tallied 22 double-doubles on the season and reached double figure kills and digs on 25 occasions and 23 occasions, respectively.

The duo has helped lead the Trojans to their second consecutive conference tournament appearance. Anderson opens the conference tournament as the No. 6 seed and will square off against third-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne in the final opening-round match at 7:30 p.m. Friday night. The tournament is being hosted by Newberry College.

Wingate's Anna Hilton became just the third student-athlete in SAC volleyball history to repeat as the conference's Player of the Year. Hilton, a senior, joins former Wingate student-athlete Stormi Gale and former Presbyterian College student-athlete Pam Deanhardt as the conference's only two-time Player of the Year honorees. Hilton ranked second in the league with a .349 hitting percentage and was sixth in kills per set at 3.39 during the regular season. She was a driving force in leading Wingate to its eighth-straight SAC title and sixth unbeaten conference record in the past seven years.

Hilton is one of five Wingate players named to the All-SAC team, which is the most in the conference. Tusculum, Lenoir-Rhyne, Lincoln Memorial and Mars Hill each have three All-Conference picks, while the Trojans, Carson-Newman, Newberry and Queens all have two apiece. Joining Hilton on the All-SAC First Team are fellow Bulldog players Alison Cooke and Lexi Potter. Cooke's average of 9.46 assists per set is the league's fourth-best, while Potter leads the conference and ranks sixth in the nation with a .386 hitting percentage.

Tusculum's Caitlyn Dean earned a first-team selection after finishing the regular season with a SAC-best 653 digs. She became Division II's all-time leader in the category on Nov. 16 in a TC win at Coker. Along with Gillespie and Pittman, Lenoir-Rhyne's Haley Rhyne and Queens' Keri Kemp earned first-team honors.

Mars Hill and Wingate both had two selections to the All-SAC Second Team, as the Lions are represented by Marissa Wixson and Maggie Murphy, while the Bulldogs' spots went to Susie Murach and Allison Rickher. They are joined on the Second Team by Tusculum's Kassie Voelker, Newberry's Samantha Parrish, Lincoln Memorial's Kaitlin Walton and Carson-Newman's Rachel Harper.

Rounding out the All-Conference accolades as honorable mention picks are Lenoir-Rhyne's Briana Gottberg and Kayla Morrow, LMU's Casey Mense and Jazzy Oates, Queens' Anna Biggs, Tusculum's Megan Hasse, Newberry's Jessica King and Mars Hill's Toni Cole.

Tusculum's Rachel Garnett was named the SAC Freshman of the Year after ranking 11th in the conference with 286 kills and 15th in hitting percentage at .251. She leads the SAC All-Freshman Team, which also includes Wingate's Abby Saehler, Mars Hill's Marykate Griffin, Newberry's Logan Hayward, Queens' Meredith Jones and LMU's Abby Cash.

Wingate's Shelton Collier was voted as the league's Coach of the Year following the Bulldogs' dominant regular season. Collier has now won or shared the Coach of the Year award in each of the last seven seasons.

All-SAC First Team
Anna Hilton, Wingate
Caitlyn Dean, Tusculum
Alison Cooker, Wingate
Haley Rhyne, Lenoir-Rhyne
Lexi Potter, Wingate
Shannon Gillespie, Anderson
Keri Kemp, Queens
Hailey Pittman, Anderson

All-SAC Second Team
Marissa Wixson, Mars Hill
Susie Murach, Wingate
Kassie Voelker, Tusculum
Samantha Parrish, Newberry
Maggie Murphy, Mars Hill
Kaitlyn Walton, Lincoln Memorial
Allison Rickher, Wingate
Rachel Harper, Carson-Newman

All-Freshman Team
Rachel Garnett, Tusculum
Abby Saehler, Wingate
Marykate Griffin, Mars Hill
Logan Hayward, Newberry
Meredith Jones, Queens
Abby Cash, Lincoln Memorial

Honorable Mention
Anny Gibbs, Queens
Megan Hasse, Tusculum
Jessica King, Newberry
Briana Gottberg, Lenoir-Rhyne
Toni Cole, Mars Hill
Kayla Morrow, Lenoir-Rhyne
Kristen Pickett, Carson-Newman
Casey Mense, Lincoln Memorial
Jazzy Oates, Lincoln Memorial

Player of the Year: Anna Hilton, Wingate
Freshman of the Year: Rachel Garnett, Tusculum
Coach of the Year: Shelton Collier, Wingate