ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson University volleyball team is slated to close out its regular season with a two-match South Atlantic Conference homestand when Catawba and Queens invade the Abney Athletic Center this weekend.

First-serve versus Catawba is slated for 7 p.m. Friday, with the Trojans celebrating Senior Day with a 2 p.m. contest versus Queens Saturday.

Admission to each volleyball match is $5, but students, faculty and staff, along with members of the Trojan Club will be admitted free of charge.

The Trojans
Anderson (17-11, 13-7 SAC) has won four straight matches and eight of its last 10 contests after claiming a pair of conference victories last weekend. The Trojans swept Tusculum, 3-0, Friday and followed up by knocking off Mars Hill, 3-1, less than 24 hours later.

AU is tied with Catawba for fifth place in the league standings and with two games remaining, the Trojans have clinched their fifth consecutive trip to next week's South Atlantic Conference Championship and will enter the tourney no lower than the sixth seed. With a pair of wins this weekend, the Trojans would remain in the hunt to finish as high as fourth and host a SAC Tournament quarterfinal contest on Tuesday, Nov. 15.

The Trojans and Indians each trail fourth-place Newberry by one game, while Wingate, Lincoln Memorial and Queens are all tied atop the SAC standings, three games ahead of AU and Catawba.

Freshman setter Emily Conlin leads the conference in assists, assists per set, service aces and service aces per set, while ranking 13th in the nation in assists. The native of Glendale, Ariz., has recorded eight straight double-doubles and has 16 on the season, while posting at least 30 assists in 23 matches this season and has reached the 40+ assist plateau 13 times.

Conlin has moved into eighth place in the school record books for assists in a single season with 1,113 and trails former Trojan standout Meghan Cautero (2013) by six assists for the seventh spot.

Emily Conard has helped lead the Trojans into 12th-place nationally for digs on the season by recording double-figure digs in 26 matches this season, including seven straight and 21 of the Trojans' last 22 outings. The Plano, Texas, native ranks fifth in the league with 539 digs and seventh with a 4.90 digs per set average.

Junior Marissa Mitter leads the Trojans and ranks second in the SAC with 345 kills on the season and fifth with 3.22 kills per set. The hitter is also second on the squad and 17th in the SAC with 305 digs on the year. The Redondo Beach, Calif., native has averaged 13.8 kills per match over the last six contests, while posting 17 double-doubles this season and has reached double-figure kills on 21 occasions, including each of the last six outings. Entering the weekend, she is second on the squad with 30 service aces.

Rachel Burts has recorded double-figure kills in 11 matches this season, including 10 of the last 14 and is second on the squad with 234 kills. The Anderson, S.C., native ranks 25th nationally in total blocks and is second in the SAC with a team-high .316 hitting percentage, while also leading the league with 112 total blocks and 31 solo blocks while standing fourth with 81 block assists.

With her next block, Burts will move into the school's top-10 for blocks in a single season. She has 81 block assists on the season and surpassed teammate Jessica Harris (2013) for fourth place last weekend. She trails Tiffany Rowe (2012) by one block assist for third place in the school record books.

Junior Serena Jackson has 193 kills on the season and ranks fifth in the SAC with her .298 hitting percentage. Freshman Kathryn Hughes has reached double-figure kills in seven matches on the year, including three of the last four, while averaging nearly 11 kills per match over the last five contests.

The Indians
Catawba (16-10, 13-10 SAC) is arguably the hottest team in the SAC and has moved into the upper echelon of the conference on the strength of a seven-match win streak and has claimed victories in 11 of its last 13 outings. The Indians last loss came on the road at the hands of Wingate on Oct. 22. Catawba is an impressive 10-2 at home and is .500 on the road with a 5-5 mark

Catawba was tabbed sixth in the South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll after posting a 15-15 overall record and a 12-10 mark in the league a season ago. The Lady Indians earned the fifth seed in the 2015 SAC Tournament and were eliminated by fourth-seeded Lincoln Memorial in the quarterfinals.

Senior Bri Howard, who earned second team All-SAC honors a year ago, was named to the SAC Preseason Second Team for 2016. Howard posted 177 kills over her 22 matches last year and averaged 2.21 per set. She hit at a .271 clip and led the team in blocking at 1.11 per set, collecting 89 total blocks with 15 solo. The Lady Indians also returned senior starters Alex Hopper and McKenzie Garrison. Hopper returned from a 2014 injury and led the team with 245 kills last season. Garrison collected 223 kills and posted 313 digs.

Junior Rachel Stanford was named AstroTurf South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Specialist of the Week on Nov., 2 after leading Catawba to three wins on the week. The Mechanicsville, Va., native averaged 11.18 assists per set and recorded 123 assists over the three-game span.

The Series vs. Catawba
The Trojans and Lady Indians have met just 13 times, all as members of the South Atlantic Conference. AU holds an 8-5 advantage in the overall series, and had won seven straight over Catawba before the Lady Indians swept AU in the second regular-season matchup in Salisbury a year ago. Anderson had swept both regular-season matchups from 2012-14 after Catawba swept both meetings during the 2011 season. The teams split the regular-season matchups during Anderson's inaugural season in the league in 2010.

Despite double-doubles from junior Mitter and Conlin, the Trojans dropped a 3-1 (18-25, 25-12, 17-25, 24-26) decision to Catawba in early October. Burts led the Trojans with 14 kills, while adding seven total blocks on the night. Mitter recorded 12 kills and 14 digs, with Conlin sharing match-high honors with 41 assists and coming up with 19 digs. Conard posted 17 digs, with sophomore Megan Embry notching 10 digs.

The Royals
Queens (19-6, 16-4 SAC) is tied with LMU and Wingate at the top of the league standings and has won five of its last six outings and 10 of its last 12.

The Royals were predicted to finish seventh in the South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll following a season that saw QUC finish with a 13-16 overall record and an 11-11 mark in conference play last year. The Royals earned the sixth seed in the SAC Tournament and were eliminated by eventual champion Lenoir-Rhyne.

Outside hitter Meredith Jones came back for her senior campaign, while earning SAC Preseason First-Team All-Conference accolades. She tallied 349 kills last year for the sixth-highest total in the league, while averaging 2.98 kills per set. Jones posted 44 service aces, which ranked fourth in the conference. She rounded out the season with 56 total blocks and 256 digs.

Jones has claimed AstroTurf South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week twice this season, while senior Megan Mancini and junior Sydney Kunz have each nabbed AstroTurf SAC Specialist of the Week accolades.

The Series vs. Queens
The Trojans are 23-10 versus Queens over the past 18 seasons and have won 20 of the last 24 meetings. The two teams have met just seven times since 2009, when both were members of Conference Carolinas, with Queens joining the SAC in 2013. The Trojans swept the regular-season meetings last year. AU and Queens split each of the 2013 and 2014 regular-season matchups, with each squad winning on the other's home court in 2013 and defending their home court in 2014. Three of the last seven meetings have been five-set affairs.

The Trojans suffered a 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 16-25, 20-25) loss to Queens a month ago, with Burts leading the Trojans for the second straight match with 12 kills, while Mitter and Hughes each added nine kills on the afternoon. Conlin posted a double-double with 41 assists and 14 digs, with Conard and Knight recording 11 digs and 10 digs, respectively.