ANDERSON, S.C. – With a Beville Cup point on the line, the Anderson University volleyball team will be looking to earn its second straight win when the Trojans wrap up a season-opening 10-match road swing, Tuesday night at Belk Arena.
First-serve versus the Flying Fleet is slated for 7 p.m.
The Trojans
Anderson (6-3, 1-1 SAC) was slated to open its home slate last Tuesday night by playing host to Lenoir-Rhyne, but that match was postponed due to the effects of Hurricane Irma and the Trojans will now begin their home schedule Friday night, when Newberry invades the Abney Athletic Center.
AU is looking for its second straight win after claiming its first South Atlantic Conference victory by knocking off Queens in four sets on Saturday.
Sophomore setter Emily Conlin, who is already sixth in the school record books with 1,628 career assists, continues to lead the SAC in both assists and assists per set after posting double-doubles in three straight matches and has six double-doubles on the season. Senior outside hitter Marissa Mitter paces the SAC with 117 kills on the year and has four double-doubles to her credit, including a season-high 21 kills at USC Aiken and a season-best 19 digs at Queens. The Redondo Beach, Calif., native needs 34 kills to become the 11th player in school history to record at least 1,000 career kills.
Senior Rachel Burts is second on the team with 80 kills on the season and ranks fourth in the league with 30 blocks, while standing fourth in the SAC with a team-best .372 hitting percentage. Junior Jayln Knight is third in a balanced Trojan offensive attack with 77 kills, with senior Serena Jackson adding 65 kills and ranking second in the league with 32 total blocks.
Sophomore Kathryn Hughes is fifth on the squad with 55 kills on the season, including a season-high 15 against Lander. Junior libero Emily Conard paces the Trojans and is 14th in the league with 121 digs.
The Flying Fleet
Erskine (1-7, 0-2 CC) has dropped four straight decisions since defeating Virginia-Wise in the opening round of the Fleet's own tournament on Sept. 8.
Erskine opened the campaign with consecutive setbacks to Mars Hill, Carson-Newman and LMU at the Lincoln Memorial Invitational.
Erskine, the defending Conference Carolinas South Division Champion, was tabbed fifth in the Conference Carolinas Preseason Coaches' Poll, despite finishing last season with a 19-10 overall record overall and a 14-2 mark in conference action.
The Series vs. Erskine
The Trojans grounded the Flying Fleet in a five-set marathon, 3-2 (22-25, 28-26, 15-25, 25-23, 15-10) last season at the Abney Athletic Center, while avenging a 3-0 loss suffered to Erskine in the 2015 regular-season clash in Due West, S.C. The Trojans and Fleet did not meet in 2014, after 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.
With last year's victory, Anderson claimed a 5-4 edge in the overall series between the two rivals since they resumed the rivalry in 2009, with each squad winning on its own home court in each of the last seven 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 three of the last four contests at the Abney Center.
Last year, Mitter led the Trojans with 14 kills and added 17 digs, while Burts knocked down a dozen kills. Jackson tallied 11 kills. Conlin handed out 39 assists and added 10 digs for her ninth double-double of the season. Conard led all players with 21 digs.
