ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson University volleyball team will put its six-match win streak on the line Tuesday night, when the Trojans travel 20 miles south for a nonconference matchup against longtime rival Erskine.
First-serve versus the Flying Fleet at Belk Arena is slated for 7 p.m.
The Trojans
Anderson (8-2, 6-1 SAC), has won eight of its last nine outings and is looking for its eighth win in the last 11 meetings with the Flying Fleet. The Trojans are 6-2 in games away from the Abney Athletic Center this season and have posted a 2-1 mark in nonconference action.
Sophomore outside hitter Maya Learmonth remains third in the South Atlantic Conference with a team-high 3.47 kills per set average and ranks ninth in the SAC with 104 total kills. The Pflugerville, Texas, native has reached double-figure kills in six of AU's 10 contests, including a stretch of four straight matches.
Junior right side hitter Regan Duty stands 19th in the league in kills per set, is 15th in hitting percentage and ranks 24th in points per set. The Inman, S.C., native averaged 15 kills on the strength of a .324 hitting percentage over the weekend, while leading the Trojans with a then season-high 14 kills in the four-set win at Lenoir-Rhyne, then posted a season-high 16 kills on the strength of a .389 hitting percentage in the road win at Mars Hill.
Freshman Taylor Weber is third on the team with 78 kills, while posting double-figure kills in four contests. Senior Hailee Wilhelm is fourth in the conference with her .363 hitting percentage and has notched double-figure kills in two of the last three matches. Sophomore middle hitter Noelle Knutsen has notched double-figure, season-high kills in back-to-back matches - notching 11 kills on a .421 hitting percentage at L-R and recording 14 kills and five block assists at Mars Hill.
Junior outside hitter Kaitlyn Grube averaged more than 10 kills per match over the weekend and has notched double-figure kills in four of the last five outings, while freshman Lindsay McCurley has tallied double-figure digs six times this season, including four straight and has averaged 20 digs over the four-match span.
Senior Emily Conlin, the reigning SAC Specialist of the Week, leads the conference in assists and assists per set, while ranking 11th in service aces and 19th in digs after averaging nearly 54 assists and 15 digs per match over the weekend. The Glendale, Ariz., native equaled a then season-high with 53 assists and recorded a season-best 21 digs at Lenoir-Rhyne. She followed up with a season-high 54 assists and narrowly missed her seventh double-double by tallying eight digs in the victory past Mars Hill, while adding another three block assists.
Erskine
The Flying Fleet, who posted a 7-21 overall record a year ago, including a 4-11 mark in Conference Carolinas action, were a preseason pick to finish ninth overall and sixth in the West Division in the 2019 Conference Carolinas Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Erskine (6-10, 1-1 CC) has dropped three of its last four decisions, with the five-set win coming at the expense of Converse in Spartanburg, S,C., last Friday night.
Sophomore Katy Torgerson, a third-team All-Conference Carolinas selection a year ago, is fifth in Conference Carolinas with 127 kills on the season, while freshman setter Laney Gaston ranks fourth in the league by handing out 6.58 assists per set.
The Series vs. the Flying Fleet
With three wins in the last three meetings, Anderson has claimed a 7-4 edge in the overall series between the two programs since they resumed the rivalry in 2009. The Trojans have swept Erskine in four of the last five contests at the Abney Center and five times in the last eight matchups overall.
In last year's matchup in early September at the Abney Athletic Center, Grube led a balanced attack with 10 kills on the strength of a .474 hitting percentage, with Wilhelm adding seven kills, while hitting .462. Conlin handed out a match-high 28 assists, notched a pair of service aces and came up with six digs. Meghan DeVaux added nine digs, with middle blocker Hannah Worsham notching three block assists.