ANDERSON, S.C. – After clinching the fifth seed in this week's South Atlantic Conference Tournament, the Anderson University volleyball team will be searching for the school's third appearance in four seasons in the NCAA Southeast Regional, as the Trojans will square off against No. 4 seed Queens, Tuesday night in Charlotte, N.C.

The Trojans and Royals will be meeting for the third time this season and the second time in four days, with first-serve slated for 7 p.m. at Curry Arena.

The Trojans
Anderson (19-11, 15-7 SAC) is making its fifth consecutive trip to the conference tournament and sixth overall after joining the league for the 2010 campaign.

Anderson is 4-4 in its previous five appearances in the conference tournament, earning victories past Lincoln Memorial and stunning Carson-Newman in the 2014 tourney, while advancing to the finals of the event before falling to eventual champion Wingate for the second straight year in the 2014 championship tilt. Last season saw AU extend eventual NCAA Region Champion Carson-Newman to five sets before succumbing at the Abney Athletic Center.

The Trojans were the No. 6 seed in 2010 and suffered a narrow, 3-2, setback to third-seeded Lincoln Memorial in the quarterfinals. As the eighth seed four years ago, AU dropped a 3-1 decision to top-seeded Wingate. The Trojans entered the 2013 tournament as the sixth seed and promptly upset third-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne in the quarterfinals and second-seeded Tusculum in the semifinals. The 2014 season's No. 3 seed marked the highest seed earned by the Black and Gold, with Anderson reaching the NCAA Tournament for the third time in school history in 2014 after claiming the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory with a four-set win over Tusculum three seasons ago.

AU also reached the NCAA Tournament in 2008 after winning the Conference Carolinas Tournament.

The Trojans have won six consecutive decisions and 10 of their last 12 contests after claiming a pair of conference victories last weekend. The Trojans swept Catawba, 3-0, Friday and followed up by defeating Queens, 3-1, Saturday afternoon.

The Trojans have already equaled the 2013 team with 19 victories and with their next win, they will become just the third squad since 2009 to reach the 20-win plateau.

As she has since the beginning of the season, 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 Glendale, Ariz., native has recorded 10 consecutive double-doubles and has 18 on the season, while posting at least 30 assists in 25 matches this season and has reached the 40+ assist plateau 15 times. She dished out a career-high 60 assists in AU's five-set win over Tusculum in September.

Conlin has moved into sixth place in the school record books for assists in a single season and trails former Trojan standout Leslie Nodine (2001) by 76 assists for the fifth spot.

The Trojans are 12th in the nation in total digs behind sophomore Emily Conard, who has recorded double-figure digs in 27 matches this season, including eight of the last nine and 22 of the Trojans' last 24 matches. The Plano, Texas, native is sixth in the league with 569 digs and seventh with a 4.86 digs per set average. She has moved into ninth place in the school record books for digs in a season with 569 and trails Amanda "Tex" Edwards (2007) by 17 for the eighth spot.

Junior Marissa Mitter leads the Trojans and ranks second in the SAC with 375 kills on the season and fourth in the SAC with 3.29 kills per set. The hitter is also second on the squad and 18th in the SAC with 330 digs on the year. A native of Redondo Beach, Calif., she has averaged more than 14 kills and 13.6 digs per match over the last eight outings, while posting 19 double-doubles this season and has reached double-figure kills on 23 occasions, including each of the last eight matches.

Rachel Burts has recorded double-figure kills in 13 matches this season, including 12 of the last 16 and is second on the squad with 256 kills. The Anderson, S.C., native ranks 25th nationally in total blocks and leads the conference with a .328 hitting percentage, while also leading the league with 118 total blocks and 34 solo blocks while ranking fourth with 84 block assists.

Burts has moved into eighth place in the school record books for total blocks in a single season with 118, and needs six more to surpass former standout Tiffany Rowe (2010) for the seventh spot. She has surpassed former Trojan great Ashley Prince for second place in the AU record books for block assists and needs 18 to surpass Hailey Pittman (2014) for the top spot.

Freshman Kathryn Hughes has recorded 205 kills on the season and has reached double-figure kills in seven matches on the year, including three of the last six, while averaging nearly 10 kills per match over the last seven contests. Junior Serena Jackson has 202 kills on the season and ranks fourth in the SAC with her .303 hitting percentage.

The Royals
Queens (19-8, 16-6 SAC) concluded the regular season tied with Newberry for the third slot in the league standings, but the Wolves claimed the tournament's third seed by virtue of a tiebreaker, with the Royals sliding into the fourth spot.

The Royals surpassed preseason expectations after being tabbed 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 2015 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 24-10 versus Queens over the past 18 seasons and have won 21 of the last 25 meetings, including last Saturday's matchup. The two teams have met just eight 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 eight meetings have been five-set affairs.

After suffering a 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 16-25, 20-25) setback to the Royals a month ago, AU avenged the loss with a 3-1 (25-13, 17-25, 25-19, 25-19) on Senior Day. In the two regular-season meetings, Mitter averaged 13 kills and nearly nine digs per match, with Burts averaging 11 kills per match. Hughes and senior Allison Gaminde have averaged eight and 5 ½ kills per match, respectively. Conlin has dished out 86 assists (10.75/set) in the two matchups and has averaged nearly 14 digs per contest. Sophomore Jayln Knight has led the Trojans defensively against the Royals with 29 total digs.