ANDERSON, S.C. – Looking to carry its history-making run into the postseason, the Anderson volleyball team will open the 2017 NCAA Southeast Region Tournament against a familiar foe, as the No. 4 seeded Trojans are slated to face fifth-seeded Queens, Thursday in St. Augustine, Fla.
The regional is being hosted by Flagler at the Flagler Gymnasium, with first-serve between the Trojans and Royals set for 5 p.m.
Ticket prices: Adults - $7; Senior Citizens (55+) - $5; College Students - $5; Children - $5
The Trojans
Anderson (27-4), a preseason selection to finish third in the South Atlantic Conference, finished the campaign at the top of the league standings, one game in front of preseason favorite Wingate and five ahead of third-place Queens. The Trojans posted a school-record 22-match win streak during the season and have already earned the most wins in a single season in program history.
Thursday's contest will mark the fourth overall appearance by Anderson in the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championship, and the first since the 2014 campaign. AU also earned berths in the 2008 and 2013 NCAA Southeast Region Championships and owns a 1-3 overall record in its three appearances.
The Trojans earned their first-ever bid after winning the 2008 Conference Carolinas Tournament and were swept by Wingate in the region quarterfinals. AU received an at-large bid to the 2013 regional and the No. 5 seeded Trojans promptly upset fourth-seeded Tusculum in the quarterfinals for AU's first-ever win in the NCAA Tournament. Top-seeded Wingate ended AU's run in the second round. The Trojans entered the 2014 Southeast Regional as the No. 5 seed and dropped a five-set decision to Augusta in the opening round.
The Trojans rank eighth in the nation by holding opponents to a .111 hitting percentage and are 12th in the country with 13.51 assists per set.
On Tuesday, sophomore Emily Conlin and the senior duo of Rachel Burts and Marissa Mitter earned All-Region honors.
Mitter earned SAC Player of the Week honors four times this season and paces the SAC in points and ranks second in kills per set and points per set. She is one of only three players in the in the league to have at least 300 kills and 300 digs on the season and has posted 14 double-doubles this season while reaching double-figure kills on 23 occasions.
Conlin ranks sixth nationally in assists per set and was named SAC Specialist of the Week twice this season, marking the fourth time in her two-year career. She leads the conference in assists per set, is second in total assists and third in service aces. The Glendale, Ariz., native has 17 double-doubles on the season and has reached the 40+ assist plateau on 15 occasions. In less than two full seasons, she already ranks sixth in the school record books for assists in a single season and fifth in career assists.
Burts is 14th in the nation in hitting percentage and is 10th in the conference with 83 total blocks on the season. She ranks among national leaders in both hitting percentage and blocks and has posted at least five total blocks on six occasions, including a season-high seven in the regular-season finale. Burts has reached double-digit kills in 14 matches and is second on the team with 253 kills on the season. Junior Jayln Knight is third on the squad with 231 kills so far and is second with 331 digs, while coming up with 33 blocks on the season. Senior Serena Jackson has added 211 kills to a balanced offensive attack and is second on the team with a .269 hitting percentage. Defensively, the veteran middle blocker leads the team in both block assists and total blocks, while helping lead the defense to the eighth-place national ranking.
Sophomore Kathryn Hughes has averaged nearly eight kills per match over her last five contests, while junior libero Emily Conard paces the Trojans and is ninth in the league with more than four digs per set.
#1 Flagler
The host Saints (24-3) earned the top seed for the first time in school history after claiming their third straight Peach Belt Conference Tournament title and sixth overall with a 3-0 win over Georgia College on Nov. 19. Flagler also captured the PBC regular-season title and features the D2CCA Southeast Region Player of the Year in senior Sara Davis as well as the PBC Freshman of the Year in Karlie Redfern.
Davis is ranked No. 8 in the nation in hitting percentage with a .406 mark. She was an AVCA All-America third-team selection last year. Redfern is third in the PBC in aces (40) and aces per set (0.42). Flagler is making its eighth trip to the NCAA Championships and it won the regional title in 2009 and 2011. The Saints are 11-7 all-time in NCAA postseason play.
The Series vs. the Saints
The Trojans and Saints have met just twice in school history, with Flagler claiming a 3-1 win over the Trojans at the 2011 USC Aiken Invitational. The Saints defeated AU in five sets in a tri-match along with Catawba at the Abney Athletic Center on Sept. 12, 2015. The Trojans opened the 2015 season at the Flagler Invitational, but did not square off against the host Saints.
In the 2015 meeting, Knight posted eight kills against the Saints, with Conard totaling 30 digs and four service aces. Megan Embry added nine digs.
#2 Wingate
The Bulldogs (25-3), who were a preseason favorite to win their 12th straight regular-season SAC title, are making their 12th consecutive trip to the NCAA Southeast Regionals after finishing second in the SAC standings and falling, 3-0, to Queens in the semifinals of the SAC Championship.
SAC Player of the Year, Katie Bludau, also earned D2CCA First-Team All-Region honors earlier this week. The senior outside hitter is 17th in the country in kills per set (4.26) and 20th in points per set (4.77). She is third in the SAC in kills (358) and fifth in hitting percentage (.304). Wingate is making its 14th appearance in the NCAA Championships and own a 17-13 in NCAA postseason play. Wingate won regional titles in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014.
The Series vs. the Bulldogs
Anderson has knocked off the perennial powerhouse twice in three meetings and claimed its third overall win in school history past the Bulldogs in mid-October. The victory marked just AU's second win over Wingate since 1999, when the Trojans were in their first year as a member of NCAA Division II. Wingate has won 20 of the last 22 matchups and leads the overall series, 20-3, after the two squads split the regular-season matchups.
In the two regular season meetings, Mitter recorded 30 kills and three blocks, with Knight adding 17 kills and 18 digs. Conlin handed out 81 assists in the two matchups, while Jackson knocked down 15 kills and had seven blocks. Conard and Embry each tallied 24 digs apiece.
#3 USC Aiken
The Pacers (25-5) were the preseason favorite to win the seven-team Peach Belt Conference title after going 31-5 a year ago and advancing to the NCAA's Elite Eight before falling to second-seeded Palm Beach State, but were swept by Georgia College in the semifinals of the PBC Tournament on Nov. 18. USC Aiken quickly gets a shot at redemption, as the Pacers will square off against No. 6 seeded Georgia College in the second match on Thursday.
The Series vs. the Pacers
The two teams met for the first time during the 2002 campaign, with USCA claiming a 3-0 win, then the series took a seven-year hiatus. USC Aiken leads the all-time series 5-1 and has won three straight past the Trojans, including a 3-1 decision in 2014 and a 3-1 victory earlier this season at the Convocation Center. The lone Trojan win was a 3-2 road victory during the 2010 season.
Mitter led all players in the September contest with 21 kills and added 12 digs for a double-double. Knight narrowly missed a double-double, adding nine kills and 15 digs, with Burts knocking down eight kills. Conlin notched a double-double with 47 assists and came up with 14 digs. Embry and freshman Christina Stacy each netted 12 digs apiece.
#5 Queens
Queens (23-7) is making its second straight NCAA postseason appearance and third overall after winning the SAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed. The Royals reached the regional finals a year ago before falling to USC Aiken in their first appearance in the NCAA's Sweet Sixteen.
Senior Sydney Kunz captured D2CCA Second-Team All-Region honors, while fellow senior Rebecca Cochran earned All-Conference accolades. Kunz is 17th in the country in assists (1,260) and 22nd in assists per set (11.15), while Cochran is fifth in the SAC in kills per set (3.15). Queens is 2-2 all-time in NCAA postseason play.
The Series vs. the Royals
The Trojans are 25-11 versus Queens over the past 19 seasons and have won 22 of the last 27 meetings, including three of the last four matchups.
The two teams have met just 10 times since 2009, when both were members of Conference Carolinas, with Queens joining the SAC in 2013. The Trojans swept the regular-season meetings in 2015. AU and Queens split each of the 2013, 2014 and 2016 regular-season matchups, with each squad winning on the other's home court in 2013 and defending their home court in 2014 and 2016.
The Trojans defeated Queens, 3-1 (25-16, 19-25, 25-20, 25-23) earlier this season in Charlotte, N.C., in a victory that ignited the school-record 22-match win streak, then swept the Royals in mid-October at the Abney Center.
Mitter recorded double-doubles in both meetings with the Royals, while Conlin posted a double-double in the first matchup and Knight added a double-double in the second meeting. Miter knocked down 27 combined kills and added 30 digs. Jackson notched 21 kills and eight total blocks, with Knight also tallying 21 kills to go along with 37 digs. Conlin handed out 90 assists, while Conard posted 33 digs.
#6 Georgia College
The Bobcats posted a 23-7 record and have earned a No. 6 seed in their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance after reaching the finals of the PBC Tournament. Last season, the Bobcats posted a 17-14 overall record, marking GC's first winning season since the program's inception in 2013.
Georgia College features the PBC Setter of the Year in Kayla Brockway. Brockway leads the conference in assists (1,110) and is second in assists per set (10.57). She is seventh in aces (33). Teammate Ebony Powers is fifth in the PBC in kills per set (3.10) and eighth in kills (288).
The Series vs. the Bobcats
AU swept Georgia College, 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-15) earlier this season at the Bobcat Classic in the only meeting between the two programs in school history.
Mitter posted a match-high 11 kills and added six digs, with Jackson and Knight each adding nine kills apiece. Jackson also chipped in four block assists, while Knight tallied 12 digs. Conlin dished out 38 assists, notched three aces and recorded seven digs, while Conard came up with 19 digs.
#7 Carson-Newman
Seventh-seeded Carson-Newman (17-14) earned a berth in the tourney after knocking off fifth-seeded Tusculum and upsetting Anderson in the SAC Tournament, before falling to Queens in the championship tilt.
The Eagles are just two years removed from winning the Southeast Regional and advancing to the 2015 Elite Eight.
Sophomore Morgan Ballard was named to the D2CCA Second-Team All-Region squad on Tuesday, while classmate Marnie Streeter was a two-time SAC Player of the Week during the season. Ballard is second in the country in digs (790) and third in digs per set (6.99). Carson-Newman is making its seventh NCAA Championship appearance and have a 6-6 record in NCAA postseason play.
The Series vs. the Eagles
The Trojans and Eagles have met 21 times over the past eight seasons, with 19 of the matchups occurring since AU joined the SAC in 2010. The overall series, which began in 2008, sees Carson-Newman holding a narrow, 11-10, edge after upsetting the top-seeded Trojans in the semifinals of the SAC Tournament. Carson-Newman won the first four meetings between the two programs and the Eagles have won six of the last 11 contests, with AU sweeping each of the last two years' regular-season matchups.
In three matchups with Carson-Newman this season, Mitter and Conlin each posted a pair of double-doubles, while Knight recorded a double-double in the tournament matchup. Mitter tallied 50 kills, 38 digs and a pair of service aces in the three contests, with Burts adding 32 kills and seven total blocks. Knight and Hughes each notched 25 kills apiece, with Hughes notching eight total blocks and Knight adding 41 digs.
Conlin passed out 131 assists (10.92/set) and posted five aces with Emily Conard recording 59 digs.
#8 Barton
The Lady Bulldogs claimed the Conference Carolinas automatic berth after winning the league tournament as well as the North Division of the conference. The Lady Bulldogs went undefeated (15-0) at home this season and have won 20 of their last 21 matches, while failing to lose a set in the month of November.
The Lady Bulldogs boast three All-Conference Carolinas honorees in Kaytlin Elkins, Courtney Wiseman and Angelica Acevedo. Elkins was named the Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year after ranking 10th in the country in kills per set (4.41) and 11th in points per set (4.97). This year marks Barton's second straight appearance in the NCAA Championship. The Lady Bulldogs are 0-1 in NCAA postseason play.
The Series vs. the Lady Bulldogs
The Trojans and Lady Bulldogs have squared off on 26 occasions, including 24 meetings when both were members of Conference Carolinas. AU holds a 16-10 advantage in the overall series and has won seven of the last nine matchups.
Barton claimed a five-set, 3-2 (23-25, 25-17, 19-25, 25-22, 15-11) win over the Trojans at the 2016 Francis Marion Invitational.
Mitter notched 16 kills in the last meeting, with Burts tallying 15 kills and four block assists. Hughes notched eight kills. Conlin added 44 assists, while Conard came up with 21 digs and Embry added 10 digs.
NCAA SOUTHEAST REGION TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
at Flagler
Thursday, Nov. 30
Match 1: #2 Wingate vs. #7 Carson-Newman, Noon
Match 2: #3 USC Aiken vs. #6 Georgia College, 2:30 p.m.
Match 3: #4 Anderson vs. #5 Queens, 5 p.m.
Match 4: #1 Flagler vs. #8 Barton, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 1
Match 5: Winner match 1 vs. Winner match 2, 5 p.m.
Match 6: Winner match 3 vs. Winner match 4, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 2
Match 7: Winner match 5 vs. Winner match 6, 7 p.m.
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