ANDERSON, S.C. – With an opportunity to earn its first South Atlantic Conference regular-season championship since joining the league in 2010, the Anderson volleyball team will wrap up their regular-season slate by visiting Tusculum on Friday, then traveling to Mars Hill for a Saturday afternoon contest.
First-serve versus the Pioneers in Greeneville, Tenn., is set for 7 p.m., while the Trojans and Lions will square off at 2 p.m.
The Trojans
Anderson (24-3, 17-1 SAC), which remained third in the Southeast Region in the latest NCAA Southeast Region rankings Wednesday afternoon, has reached the 24-win plateau for just the fourth time in program history on the strength of a school-record 19-match win streak. The streak is currently the third-longest in the nation, behind just Arkansas Tech (31 matches) and California Baptist (24 matches). The Trojans went undefeated at home this season and stretched their win streak at the Abney Athletic Center to 15 matches dating back to last season.
The Trojans have made three appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including their first after winning the 2008 Conference Carolinas Tournament and two after receiving at-large bids in 2013 and 2014, and are seeking their first-ever regular-season title in either league.
With the two games left on the league schedule, AU is in first place in the SAC standings, one game ahead of Wingate and has clinched no lower than the No. 2 seed in the SAC Tournament later this month. The second seed marks the AU's highest seed since joining the conference in 2010.
AU is second in the conference and ranks ninth in the nation by holding opponents to a .111 hitting percentage and is 11th in the country by dishing out 13.52 assists per set. The Trojans are also among the nation's elite with 14.03 kills per set (22nd), a .250 hitting percentage (24th) and are 46th in the country with 17.99 digs per set.
Sophomore setter Emily Conlin paces the conference and ranks sixth in the nation by dishing out 11.93 assists per set, while senior Rachel Burts has climbed to 13th in the country with a .386 hitting percentage. Senior Marissa Mitter leads the league with 335 kills on the season and is second in kills per set (3.76/set). Conlin and Mitter combined to sweep the weekly conference honors earlier this week for the second time this season.
The Pioneers
Tusculum (15-14, 10-9 SAC), which was ranked 10th in the latest NCAA Southeast Region Rankings, is fourth in the SAC standings after dropping five of its last six decisions. The Pioneers are coming off a 3-0 (33-31, 25-18, 25-22) setback at Coker last Saturday.
Senior setter Shannon Murphy was named SAC Specialist of the Week and outside hitter Cassie Born earned SAC Player of the Week honors earlier this season.
The Series vs. Tusculum
Tusculum owns a 15-8 advantage in the overall series that dates back to the 1997 season, with seven 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 three straight and five of the last six matchups on the strength of sweeping last year's regular-season matchups and by opening October by sweeping the Pioneers.
Sophomore outside hitter Kathryn Hughes led all players with 15 kills on the strength of a .480 hitting percentage and added three total blocks. Burts tallied eight kills on a .400 hitting percentage and came up with three total blocks, while Mitter posted eight kills and recorded 13 digs on the night. Conlin handed out 31 assists and recorded seven digs, with junior libero Emily Conard notching a match-high 14 digs.
The Lions
Mars Hill (11-15, 9-10 SAC) has won four straight outings and is coming off back-to-back four-set victories over Newberry and Lenoir-Rhyne.
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 and claimed a three-set win over Mars Hill earlier this 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 the overall series is knotted at 11-11.
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.
In the first matchup this season, Mitter led all players with 14 kills behind a .520 hitting percentage, as the native of Redondo Beach, Calif., committed just one error in 25 attempts. She added 21 digs for a double-double. Fellow senior Serena Jackson posted nine kills with just one miscue in 16 attacks for a .500 hitting percentage and recorded five block assists. Junior outside hitter Jayln Knight tallied eight kills and 10 digs, with Hughes also notching eight kills. Conlin dished out 40 assists and earned her 10th double-double of the year by coming up with 10 digs. Conard added 14 digs on the afternoon.
