ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson University volleyball team will open the second half of the South Atlantic Conference's double round-robin schedule when the Trojans play host to Catawba, Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center. First-serve versus the Lady Indians is scheduled for 2 p.m.
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 (15-3, 9-1 SAC) has posted 10 straight victories and has an opportunity to equal the school record for consecutive wins when Catawba invades the Abney Center this weekend. The Trojans will also be looking to extend its home win streak to 10 matches dating back to last season.
Halfway through the league schedule, the Trojans are second in the SAC standings and trail unbeaten and league-leading Wingate by one game and lead third-place Queens by two games. AU's current win streak is the second-longest in school history and marks the longest since the 2004 squad recorded 11 straight wins.
The Trojans continue to pace the conference in assists and stand second in the league in kills, kills per set, hitting percentage, assists per set, service aces, aces per set, points and points per set.
Sophomore Kathryn Hughes has recorded a .394 hitting percentage, while averaging more than 11 kills and two blocks over the last three contests. She has tallied double-figure kills in four of the last six matches and six times on the season, while equaling her career-high 15 kills twice. Junior libero Emily Conard has reached double-figure digs a dozen times and 20+ digs on three occasions this season. She continues to pace a balanced team effort on the defensive side with 239 digs on the year, while ranking ninth in the conference with 4.35 digs per set. The Plano, Texas, native is also second on the team and fifth in the SAC with 22 aces.
Junior Jayln Knight's consistent all-around performance is evident in her stats, as the Redlands, Calif., native ranks 17th in the conference in digs per set, 18th in total digs, 25th in service aces, 27th in kills, 28th in points and 30th in kills per set. In less than two seasons, senior Rachel Burts already stands 13th in the AU record books with 168 career blocks and needs 10 to pass former standout Betsy Fisher (2000-04) for 12th place. She is third in the SAC with her .370 hitting percentage and stands ninth in the league with 42 block assists on the year.
Serena Jackson has averaged more than six kills and nearly three blocks over the last three matches and is in 11th place in the AU record books with 183 career blocks. The senior from Charlotte, N.C. is third in the SAC with 51 block assists and is tied for fourth with 55 total blocks. She has climbed into 17th place in the league with a .242 hitting percentage after posting a .339 hitting percentage over the last four contests.
From the outset of the season, sophomore setter Emily Conlin has been either first or second in the league in assists and assists per set, while averaging nearly 12 assists per set. She began the week 12th in the nation in assists per set and 44th in total assists and has notched 11 double-doubles on the season. The native of Glendale, Ariz., has reached the 40+ assist plateau five times and 50+ assists on two occasions.
Outside hitter Marissa Mitter has also ranked either first or second in the SAC in kills and kills per set and enters Saturday's contest with a league-leading 226 kills and is second with 3.77 kills per set. She is 18th in the league with exactly 200 digs and is 21st with a 3.33 digs per set average. A native of Redondo Beach, Calif., Mitter has 1,080 career kills and has passed Michelle Yarborough (1999-2002) for ninth place in the school record books.
The Lady Indians
Catawba (3-11, 1-9 SAC) has suffered nine consecutive setbacks after winning its conference opener – a road contest at Mars Hill in mid-September. The Lady Indians are 1-5 on the road this season and are coming off a five-set loss last Saturday at Newberry.
Catawba was tabbed eighth in the SAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, after posting a 16-13 overall record and a 13-9 mark in league action a season ago.
The Series vs. Catawba
The Trojans and Lady Indians have met just 15 times, all as members of the South Atlantic Conference. AU holds a 10-5 advantage in the overall series and has won eight of the last 10 meetings. The Trojans had won seven straight over Catawba before the Lady Indians blanked AU in the second regular-season matchup in Salisbury during the 2015 campaign.
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.
The Trojans blanked Catawba, 3-0, earlier this season in Salisbury, N.C., as Mitter led all players with 17 kills and added 15 digs. Burts notched eight kills, while Conlin recorded a double-double with a match-high 34 assists and 15 digs. Conard recorded a team-high 17 digs.
Burts knocked down 26 kills in two matches against the Lady Indians last season, while notching a .451 hitting percentage and added 12 blocks. Mitter
had a combined 25 kills and 28 digs, while posting a pair of double-doubles. Hughes and Jackson each added 14 kills apiece, with Conlin notching two double-doubles and tallying 86 assists and 29 digs. Conard posted 39 digs, while Knight chipped in 19 digs in the two meetings.
