WINGATE, N.C. – The Anderson volleyball team wrapped up its longest South Atlantic Conference road swing of the season with a 3-0 (14-25, 20-25, 24-26) setback to league-leading and 25th-ranked Wingate, Tuesday night at Cuddy Arena.
Anderson (8-6, 5-2 SAC) saw its win streak halted at three, while Wingate stayed perfect on the season, improving to 15-0 overall and 7-0 in conference action.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Junior Marissa Mitter narrowly missed her eighth double-double of the season by notching a team-high nine kills and 15 digs. Freshman Kathryn Hughes tallied seven kills for the Trojans. Freshman Emily Conlin handed out 26 assists, while sophomore Emily Conard recorded 10 digs. Senior Rachel Burts shared game-high honors with four total blocks.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
The Trojans scored the first point of the set on a service ace by Conlin, with Wingate countering by posting three straight to take a 3-1 advantage. AU answered with two consecutive points to knot the score for the second of four times, but a 10-1 run by the Bulldogs, who hit .613 in the frame, midway through the set proved too much for the Trojans to overcome.
Second Set
Wingate continued its hot hitting, snapping an early 2-2 deadlock to take a lead behind four unanswered points. The Trojans fell behind, 11-6, but rallied to even the score at 11 apiece on the strength of a 5-0 outburst. AU capitalized on a pair of Wingate errors, while Mitter helped fueled the run with a kill and a block. The score was knotted four more times, but the Trojans were unable to take the lead and Wingate snapped a 16-16 deadlock with five straight points to push out to a 21-16 advantage. The Trojans trimmed the deficit to three, at 23-20, when Conlin and Burst combined on a block, but were unable to get any closer.
Third Set
An early 7-2 run propelled Wingate to the lead, but after falling behind by five again, at 10-5, the Trojans chipped away and battled back to within one on three occasions before knotting the score for just the second time, at 16-16, on Burts' fourth kill of the night. Wingate responded with a 4-1 surge and appeared on the verge of putting the set away, but AU posted a 3-1 run of its own to again get within a single digit at 21-20. The Bulldogs regained a 24-22 edge, but Hughes answered with a kill for AU and Megan Embry added an ace to even the score at 24 apiece before the Bulldogs claimed the narrow win.
NOTABLES
• Conard has tallied double-figure digs in 13-of-14 matches this season
• Conlin has four double-doubles on the season.
• Wingate's .341 hitting percentage was the highest by an opponent this season.
• The Trojans have posted at least four service aces in 12 straight matches.
• Mitter ranks third in the SAC with 167 kills and fourth in kills per set (3.21).
• Conlin paces the conference with 528 assists and is third in the SAC with 9.60 assists per set.
• Conlin leads the league with 23 service aces on the season.
• Conard is first in the conference with 255 digs.
• Burts ranks second in the SAC with 57 total blocks on the year.
UP NEXT
Anderson will get back on the court Friday, when the Trojans play host to Tusculum. First-serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Abney Athletic Center.
