ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson University volleyball team will celebrate its four seniors when Carson-Newman invades the Abney Athletic Center for a Friday night South Atlantic Conference matchup. First-serve is set for 7 p.m.
AU will conclude its regular-season slate by playing host to Lincoln Memorial, Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
Admission to each volleyball match is $5, but students, faculty and staff, along with members of the Trojan Club are admitted free of charge.
The Trojans
Anderson (22-3, 15-1 SAC), which was third in the Southeast Region in the NCAA's initial Southeast Region rankings Wednesday afternoon, has reached the 22-win milestone for the sixth time in program history behind a school-record 17-match win streak. The Trojans refused to lose during the month of October and are looking to extend their home win streak to 14 consecutive matches dating back to last season.
With four games left on the league schedule, AU is in first place in the SAC standings, while leading Wingate by one game and third-place Queens by three games. The Trojans have already clinched no lower than a No. 3 seed in the SAC Tournament later this month, which would equal the 2014 squad for AU's highest seed since joining the conference in 2010.
Prior to the last two outings, AU led the conference and ranked 11th in the nation by holding opponents to a .108 hitting percentage and ranked ninth nationally by handing out 13.60 assists per contest. The Trojans are also among the nation's elite with 14.13 kills per set (14th), a .243 hitting percentage (26th) and are 28th in the country with 18.54 digs per set.
Sophomore setter Emily Conlin paces the conference and ranks fifth in the nation by dishing out 11.98 assists per set, while senior Rachel Burts is 19th in the country with a .377 hitting percentage.
The Eagles
Carson-Newman (14-11, 9-8 SAC) had won six straight decisions before getting swept at home by Mars Hill two nights ago. The Eagles were seventh in the NCAA's first Southeast Region Rankings on Wednesday.
C-N was picked to finish ninth in the Preseason SAC Coaches' Poll after finishing last season with a 3-27 overall record and a 2-20 mark in league action. Carson-Newman returned six starters from a year ago, including senior setter Anna Patton, who was a second-team All-SAC pick as a sophomore and junior middle blocker Natalie Harris, the SAC Freshman of the Year in 2015.
Sophomores Morgan Ballard and Marnie Streeter were named SAC Player of the Week and SAC Specialist of the Week, respectively in mid-September, with Streeter capturing the honor again two days ago.
The Series vs. Carson-Newman
The Trojans and Eagles have met 19 times over the past eight seasons, with 17 of the matchups occurring since AU joined the league in 2010. The overall series, which began in 2008, sees Carson-Newman holding a 10-9 edge on the strength of winning the first four meetings and splitting the last eight contests with the Trojans. However, AU swept last year's regular-season matchups and knocked off the Eagles, 3-1, earlier this season in Jefferson City.
Senior Marissa Mitter posted 17 kills and nine digs, with Kathryn Hughes adding 12 kills, including five in the third set. Senior Rachel Burts notched eight kills behind a match-high .381 hitting percentage. Sophomore setter Emily Conlin handed out a match-high 42 assists, while tallying 12 digs and a pair of service aces. Junior Emily Conard led all players by equaling a season-high 23 digs. Junior Jayln Knight chipped in 19 digs, with junior Megan Embry adding 13 digs.
The Lady Railsplitters
LMU (13-12, 8-9 SAC) has won two of its last three outings and is coming off a 3-0 sweep of Tusculum last Tuesday night.
Lincoln Memorial was predicted to finish second in the South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll following a season that saw the Lady 'Splitters finish with a single-season school record 25 victories, including a school-record 17 league wins en route to a 25-9 overall record. LMU also earned a berth in the NCAA Southeast Regional after falling to Wingate in the SAC Tournament Championship matchup.
Redshirt junior right side/setter Samantha Cash was named Preseason All-SAC First Team, while senior outside hitter Kiera Holland and redshirt junior middle blocker Tone Gill were placed on the second team.
Cash was fifth in the SAC with 361 kills and chipped in 224 digs, while notching 55 total blocks a season ago. She recorded a triple-double against Anderson with 10 kills, 10 assists and 11 digs in last season's meeting in the Electric City. The native of New Carlisle, Ohio, did not play against the Trojans earlier this season and has not made an appearance on the court since Sept. 23. Holland posted 353 kills and 211 digs last season and earlier this season became the 11th player in program history to reach the 1,000 career kill mark. Gill finished among the top three in the SAC in total blocks (114), block assists (94) and solo blocks (20).
The Series vs. Lincoln Memorial
The Trojans and Lady Railsplitters have met 21 times over the last 15 seasons, including 17 meetings since AU joined the South Atlantic Conference for the 2010 campaign.
LMU holds a 15-6 advantage in the overall series between the two schools, with Anderson snapping a nine-match skid at the hands of the Lady Railsplitters in the first meeting four seasons ago and defeating LMU three times during the 2014 campaign, including a 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-13) decision in the opening round of the SAC Championship.
Mitter led all players with 11 kills and added six digs when the Trojans swept LMU in late September, while Burts posted nine kills on the strength of a .538 hitting percentage. Jackson and Hughes each tallied six kills apiece, with Conlin recording 33 assists and five digs. Knight and Conard came up with nine digs apiece.
