ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson University volleyball team is set to wrap up its regular-season road schedule with matches at South Atlantic Conference-foes Tusculum and Mars Hill this weekend.

First-serve versus Tusculum is slated for 7 p.m. Friday, while the Trojans square off the Lions Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Trojans
By winning six of its last eight contests, Anderson (15-11, 11-7 SAC) has moved four games above .500 for the first time this season and is coming off identical 3-1 victories over Lenoir-Rhyne and Brevard last weekend. With the two wins the Trojans have clinched at least the sixth seed in the South Atlantic Conference Championship, which begins Nov. 15 on the campuses of the top four seeds.

With four matches remaining on their regular-season slate, the Trojans are tied for fifth place in the league standings alongside Catawba, which has won four straight contests. The Indians and AU both trail fourth-place Newberry by two games and third-place Queens by 3 ½ games entering this weekend's action. Lincoln Memorial, a preseason pick to finish third in the league, has been the surprise of the regular season and is atop the SAC standings by one game over preseason favorite Wingate.

Freshman setter Emily Conlin leads the conference in assists (1,027), assists per set (9.97), service aces (43) and service aces per set (0.42) and ranks 13th in the nation in assists and 17th nationally in aces. The Glendale, Ariz., native has recorded six consecutive double-doubles and has 14 on the season, while posting at least 30 assists in 21 matches this season and has reached the 40+ assist plateau on 12 occasions.

With her 38 assists last Saturday, Conlin moved into 10th place in the school record books for assists in a single season and needs 31 more to claim the ninth spot.

Defensively, sophomore Emily Conard has recorded double-figure digs in 24 matches this season, including five straight and 19 of the Trojans' last 20 outings and ranks fifth in the league with 485 digs and seventh with a 4.71 digs per set average.

Junior Marissa Mitter leads the Trojans and ranks second in the SAC with 318 kills on the season and fifth with 3.18 kills per set. The versatile hitter is also second on the squad and 18th in the SAC with 273 digs on the year. The Redondo Beach, Calif., native has averaged 14 kills per match over the last four contests, while posting 15 double-doubles this season and has reached double-figure kills on 19 occasions, including each of the last four outings. Entering the weekend, she is tied for second on the squad with 25 service aces.

Rachel Burts has recorded double-figure kills in 11 matches this season, including 10 of the last 12 and is second on the squad with 219 kills. The Anderson, S.C., native paces the SAC with a .325 hitting percentage, while also leading the league with 103 total blocks and 29 solo blocks while standing fourth with 74 block assists.

Burts needs 10 total blocks to move into the school's top-10 for blocks in a single season and with her next block assist, she will tie former Trojan standout Shaunte' Heyward (2004) for fifth place in the school record books for block assists in a single season.

Junior Serena Jackson has 180 kills on the season and ranks seventh in the SAC with her .293 hitting percentage. Freshman Kathryn Hughes has reached double-figure kills in six matches on the year, including the last two, while averaging 7.9 kills per set over the last nine contests.

The Pioneers
Tusculum (11-15, 6-12 SAC) is currently tied with Mars Hill for seventh place in the league standings, as both teams battle for a berth in the eight-team SAC Championship. The Pioneers have dropped five of their last six decisions and have been swept in each of their last three outings, including a 3-0 home setback to LMU two nights ago.

Tusculum was tabbed fifth in the South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll after posting an 11-17 overall record and an 8-14 mark in league play last year. The Pioneers narrowly missed earning a berth in the 2015 SAC Championship after tying for ninth place alongside Newberry.

The Pioneers returned five starters from last season's squad, including senior Rachel Garnett and sophomore Melissa Mazur, who were named preseason first-team all-conference. Garnett was selected second-team All-SAC last season after she registered a team-high 2.86 kills per set (ninth-best in the SAC) and had a team-high .241 hitting percentage. She was the 2013 SAC Freshman of the Year and a 2014 Honorable Mention All-SAC selection.

Mazur was the fourth player in program history to earn All-America honors as she was selected by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association last season. The Chicago native was named First-Team All-SAC and was a member of the SAC All-Freshman team after leading all three divisions of the NCAA with 6.84 digs per set. Mazur's 711 total digs were the fourth-most in a season by a Pioneer. She reached double figures in digs in all 28 matches as a freshman, including a season-high 44 against Lander.

The Series vs. Tusculum
Tusculum owns a 15-6 advantage in the overall series that dates back to the 1997 season. The Pioneers claimed the first-ever meeting in 1997, with the series lapsing for six years before the two squads met again, with AU taking a 3-1 win in Greeneville, Tenn., during the 2004 campaign.

Tusculum had won 12 consecutive decisions past the Trojans, with eight coming since Anderson joined the SAC in 2010, before AU defeated the Pioneers twice in the 2013 postseason. The Trojans outlasted Tusculum in five sets in the SAC Tournament semifinals, then upset the fourth-seeded Pioneers, 3-1, in the opening round of the NCAA Southeast Regional, marking Anderson's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory. The Pioneers have won three of the last five matchups on the strength of sweeping last year's regular-season matchups.

With three players reaching double-figure kills, the Trojans closed the month of September by rallying from a two-set deficit to defeat Tusculum at the Abney Athletic Center. Mitter posted a double-double with a match-high 22 kills and 17 digs, while Burts added 14 kills on the strength of a .500 attack percentage and chipped in seven total blocks on the night. Hughes notched 11 kills, with Conlin notching a double-double with a career-high 60 assists and 11 digs. Conard posted a team-best 23 digs, while sophomore Jayln Knight posted 17 digs. Sophomore Megan Embry also tallied 11 digs.

The Lions
Mars Hill is 7-18 overall on the season, with six of its wins coming in conference play. The Lions dropped three straight decisions after winning three consecutive matches in mid-October and are coming off a 3-0 sweep of Carson-Newman last Tuesday night.

The Lions were tabbed 10th in the South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll after posting an 8-21 overall record and a 6-16 mark in league play last year.

The Series vs. Mars Hill
After MHU won the first-ever meeting in 1997, the Trojans won five of the next six meetings over the following 11 seasons. After the Trojans earned three straight wins over the Lions to gain a narrow advantage in the overall series, Mars Hill swept last season's regular-season matchups to claim a 10-9 edge in the overall series. The Lions handed AU a five-set loss early last month at the Abney Athletic Center to gain a two-game lead in the overall series.

Anderson defeated the Lions in AU's inaugural season in the SAC in 2010, with Mars Hill countering by claiming seven straight wins before AU won the 2013 series finale over the Lions and swept both regular-season matchups two years ago.

Last month's meeting saw Mitter record a double-double with a match-high 19 kills and 16 digs, while Burts added 12 kills and eight total blocks on the night. Jackson notched eight kills and six digs. Conlin recorded a double-double with a match-best 53 assists and 17 digs. Conard garnered a team-high 25 digs, with Knight tallying 16 digs and Embry chipping in 11 digs.