ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson University volleyball team begins the second half of the grueling double-round robin South Atlantic Conference schedule looking to snap a three-game skid when league-leading and 24th-ranked Wingate invades the Abney Athletic Center Friday night.
Friday night's contest kicks off a four-match homestand for the Trojans, with first-serve versus the Bulldogs slated for 7 p.m. AU is slated to entertain SAC opponent Coker in the first half of a rare double-header on Saturday at 2 p.m., then welcomes Conference Carolinas-foe and local rival Erskine to the Abney Center at 4:30 p.m.
The Trojans
Anderson (9-9, 6-5 SAC) is coming off a five-day layoff and has dropped four of its last five decisions since knocking off Lenoir-Rhyne and Brevard on the road three weeks ago. Despite the woes, Anderson remains tied for fourth in a three-way logjam in the league standings at the halfway mark of the SAC schedule. The Trojans, Catawba and Newberry all trail Queens in the standings, while holding a one and one-half game lead on Tusculum.
Friday night's contest will feature two of the league's top two teams statistically, as Wingate and Anderson are 1-2 in total kills on the season. The Trojans lead the league with 60 solo blocks and continue to rank second in the SAC in assists (832), service aces (111), digs (1,226), total blocks (154) and points (1,145.0), with the Bulldogs pacing the conference in three of those categories.
Junior Marissa Mitter ranks third in the SAC with a team-best 229 kills and has moved to fourth with her 3.27 kills per set average. The native of Redondo Beach, Calif., has recorded 10 double-doubles on the season and has posted double-figure kills in 13 contests this season. Fellow junior Serena Jackson is second on the squad with 136 kills and is tied for fifth alongside senior Rachel Burts with their team-high .292 hitting percentage. Burts has reached double-figure kills in four straight matches and paces the league with 73 total blocks and 22 solo blocks, while ranking second with 51 block assists.
Freshman setter Emily Conlin has posted eight double-doubles on the season, including four straight and continues to lead the conference in both assists (724) and aces per set (30), while standing third in assists per set (9.92). Two weeks ago, the Glandale, Ariz., native equaled the ninth-highest total in school history for assists in a single match with 60 in the win over Tusculum. She has recorded at least 30 assists on 15 occasions this season and has reached the 40+ assist plateau on 10 occasions. Conlin continues to be on pace to reach the top-10 in the school record books for assists in a single season.
Sophomore Emily Conard has tallied double-figure digs in all but one match this season and ranks third in the SAC with 331 digs and seventh with a 4.53 digs per set average.
The Bulldogs
Wingate (19-1, 11-0 SAC) has suffered just one setback this season – a 3-1 home loss to defending national champion Wheeling Jesuit – to open the month of October. For the 11th consecutive season, the Bulldogs were the preseason favorite to claim the league championship after winning 10 straight regular-season titles and nine league tournament championships over the past decade, while claiming four regional championships. Wingate posted a 28-5 mark in 2015, with a 20-2 record in league play.
Led by senior All-American Abby Saehler, four Bulldogs earned preseason All-SAC honors. Saehler was a first team selection, while junior Kori Adams, sophomores Oakley Attaway and Kimberly Hovey earned second-team accolades. Saehler is the reigning AstroTurf SAC Player of the Week and has earned the accolade three times this season. Freshman setter Rachel Alles is a two-time honoree as AstroTurf SAC Volleyball Specialist of the Week this season.
The Series vs. Wingate
Anderson will enter Friday's contest looking for just its second win in school history past the Bulldogs and its' first since 1999, when the Trojans were in their first year as a member of NCAA Division II. Wingate has won 19 straight over AU and leads the overall series, 19-1.
The Trojans saw a three-game win streak halted with a 3-0 (14-25, 20-25, 24-26) loss to Wingate in late September, with Mitter narrowly missed a double-double by notching a team-high nine kills and 15 digs. Freshman Kathryn Hughes tallied seven kills for the Trojans. Conlin handed out 26 assists, while Conard recorded 10 digs. Burts shared game-high honors with four total blocks.
In addition to the regular season home-and-home matchups, the two teams have squared off in two of the last three SAC Tournament Championships, with the Bulldogs sweeping AU on both occasions.
The Cobras
Coker (9-8, 3-8 SAC) is a stellar 5-2 at home, but has struggled to a 1-6 mark in true road contests and is looking to snap a seven-match SAC road skid when the Cobras square off against Newberry Friday night.
The Cobras went 4-24 overall and 1-21 in the SAC a year ago, and were a preseason pick to finish 12th in the 2016 SAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. Second-year head coach Julia Rafalowski has 12 returners and six newcomers on her roster, with the junior duo of Madison Bingle and Christen Bragg leading a balanced offensive attack. Last season, Bingle led the Cobras with 254 kills.
The Series vs. Coker
The Trojans clinched a berth in in the 2015 SAC Championship with last November's five-set win at Coker and own a 26-7 record versus the Cobras over the past 18 seasons. The Trojans have won 15 of the last 18 meetings, including 13 straight.
Behind a balanced offensive attack, AU opened this year's conference slate with a four-set (26-24, 25-23, 19-25, 25-20) win over the Cobras in early September. Mitter posted a double-double with 21 kills and 16 digs, while senior Allison Gaminde added eight kills, three digs and a pair of blocks. Conlin dished out 50 assists and recorded nine digs, with sophomore Megan Embry coming up with 14 digs.
The Flying Fleet
Erskine (10-7, 7-2 CC) is riding a four-match win streak as the Flying Fleet enter Friday night's matchup looking for its second win in nine days over the Emmanuel.
Erskine was a preseason pick to repeat as Conference Carolinas' champions and is coming off a record-setting season, as the Fleet posted a 23-7 overall record and a 15-1 mark in league action with their lone conference loss coming at home to Emmanuel in the regular-season finale.
Last season marked Erskine's third regular-season title, while its conference tournament championship marked the second since 2009. Eighth-year head coach Heather Vahjen led the Fleet to an opening-round upset of top-seeded USC Aiken in the NCAA's Southeast Regional, but fell to eventual region champs Carson–Newman in the second round.
The Series vs. Erskine
Last season's clash with the Fleet in Due West, S.C., marked the first regular-season meeting between the two squads since the Trojans blanked Erskine, 3-0, in early October, 2013. That sweep marked the Trojans' third consecutive blanking of the Flying Fleet at the Abney Center, but Erskine returned the favor a year ago with a 3-0 win.
The overall series between the two rivals is deadlocked at four wins apiece since the two schools resumed the rivalry in 2009, with each squad winning on its own home court in each of the last six meetings. The exception was during the 2009 campaign, when both were members of Conference Carolinas - each team won on the other's home court during that season. The Trojans have swept Erskine in each of the last three contests at the Abney Center.
