ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson University volleyball team is set to open the longest South Atlantic Conference homestand in program history when the Trojans welcome Tusculum and Mars Hill to the Abney Athletic Center for a pair of league contests this weekend.
First-serve versus the Pioneers is slated for 7 p.m., Friday, while the Trojans and Lions will get underway Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. A win streak will be halted Friday night, as the Trojans are riding a seven-match win streak, while Tusculum enters the contest with a five-game stretch of victories.
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 (12-3, 6-1 SAC) is off to one of the best starts in school history by equaling the 2014 edition of Trojan volleyball, which also began the season with a 12-3 overall record. Last year's squad also won six of its first seven conference matchups. With three matches to go until the midway mark of the league schedule, the Trojans are second in the SAC standings, 1 ½ games behind unbeaten and league-leading Wingate.
AU's current seven-match win streak is the fourth-longest in school history and marks the longest since the 2004 squad reeled off 11 straight wins. The 2002 team posted nine consecutive victories and the '98 squad recorded an eight-match win streak.
The six contests mark AU's longest SAC homestand since joining the league for the 2010 campaign and is the longest overall since the Trojans played six consecutive contests at home in 2012. The 2005 edition of Trojan volleyball also had a stretch of six straight home contests, while the 2002 team hosted eight straight home contests in early October.
In the latest NCAA rankings, the Trojans are 12th in the nation by holding opponents to a .114 hitting percentage and rank 21st nationally with 12.98 assists per set. The Trojans are second in the SAC in kills per set, hitting percentage, assists per set, service aces, aces per set and points per set.
Senior outside hitter Marissa Mitter, the reigning SAC Player of the Week, leads the league in kills and is second in kills per set. The Redondo Beach, Calif., native needs just two more kills to surpass former Trojan standout Shaunte' Heyward (2003-06) for 10th place in the school record books. Sophomore setter Emily Conlin has led the league in assists per set through the first five weeks of the season and is third in the SAC in total assists, while leading the team and standing third in the conference with 23 aces. The Glendale, Ariz., native is 12th in the nation in assists per set and 34th in total assists.
Senior Rachel Burts is second in the SAC and 26th in the country with her .370 hitting percentage and ranks seventh in the league with 43 total blocks on the year. The Anderson, S.C., native is 13th in the AU record books with 164 career blocks and needs 14 to surpass former standout Betsy Fisher (2000-04) for 12th place. Junior Jayln Knight is 17th in the conference in digs per set, 18th in total digs, 27th in both kills in block assists, while senior Serena Jackson is fifth in the SAC with 47 blocks and is third on the team with 100 kills. Jackson is now is now 11th in the AU record books with 180 career blocks.
Sophomore Kathryn Hughes has 95 kills on the season after reaching double-figure kills in two of the last three contests four times this season. Junior libero Emily Conard leads the Trojans with 197 digs on the year and ranks 10th in the conference with 4.28 digs per set.
The Pioneers
Tusculum (10-5, 7-3 SAC) has won five straight and seven of their last eight decisions entering Friday night's matchup and is coming off a nonconference sweep of King two nights ago. Senior setter Shannon Murphy posted her eighth consecutive double-double in the win, with fellow senior Kaily Weiss adding nine kills.
The Pioneers, who returned 13 letterwinners from a year ago, were picked to finish seventh in the SAC Preseason Coaches' Poll after finishing last season with a 12-19 overall record and finishing eighth in the SAC with a 7-15 mark in league action.
Murphy was named SAC Specialist of the Week two days ago, with outside hitter Cassie Born earning SAC Player of the Week honors on Sept. 19.
The Series vs. Tusculum
Tusculum owns a 15-7 advantage in the overall series that dates back to the 1997 season, with six of AU's victories coming since the 2013 campaign. 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 Trojans have won two straight and four of the last five matchups on the strength of sweeping last year's regular-season matchups.
Mitter led the Trojans with 34 kills in the two meetings on the strength of a .306 hitting percentage. Burts added 22 kills on a .383 hitting percentage, while posting 12 total blocks. Hughes and Jackson notched 18 kills and 16 kills, respectively against the Pioneers last season. Conlin handed out 98 assists, while Conard recorded 39 digs.
The Lions
Mars Hill (4-8, 3-6 SAC) has won three straight outings after snapping an eight-match skid by sweeping Coker. The Lions are coming off an impressive 3-1 road win over Lenoir-Rhyne two nights ago.
Mars Hill was predicted to finish 10th in the South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll following a season that saw the Lions go 8-21 overall and 7-15 in the conference.
The Series vs. Mars Hill
The Lions had won two straight over AU – both at the Abney Center – before the Trojans posted a 3-1 win at Mars Hill last season.
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 the 2015 season's regular-season matchups to claim a 10-9 edge in the overall series. The two teams split last season's series and MHU now leads the overall series 11-10.
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 three years ago.
Mitter recorded 34 kills, 34 digs and four aces against the Lions a season ago. Burts added 19 kills and a dozen blocks, while Hughes tallied 17 kills. Conlin finished the two contests with 102 assists and Conard recorded 63 digs.
