ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson University volleyball team will return to the Abney Athletic Center for a pair of South Atlantic Conference contests this weekend, with the Trojans playing host to Tusculum on Friday night and squaring off against league-newcomer UVa-Wise less than 24 hours later.

First-serve versus the Pioneers is slated for 7 p.m., with AU squaring off against the Cavaliers at 2 p.m., Saturday.

Admission to each volleyball match is free.

The Trojans
Anderson (9-2, 6-1 SAC), has won seven straight and nine of its last 10 decisions. The Trojans are 2-0 at the Abney Center this season and are looking extend their home win streak to 31 straight matches - having not lost on Annie Tribble Court since Head Coach Todd Hay's Newberry Wolves swept AU in October, 2016.

Sophomore outside hitter Maya Learmonth is third in the South Atlantic Conference by averaging a team-high 3.33 kills per set average and ranks eighth in the league with 110 total kills. The Pflugerville, Texas, native has reached double-figure kills in six of AU's 11 matches, including a stretch of four straight contests at one point.

Junior right side hitter Regan Duty is 13th in the conference in hitting percentage, 17th in kills per set and 20th in kills, while freshman Taylor Weber is third on the team with 84 kills, while posting double-figure kills in four outings.

Senior Hailee Wilhelm enters this weekend fourth in the conference with her .373 hitting percentage after raising her accuracy by 10 percentage points after posting six kills with no errors two nights ago at Erskine. Sophomore middle hitter Noelle Knutsen has notched double-figure kills in three straight matches and posted an impressive .625 hitting percentage versus the Flying Fleet.

Freshman Lindsay McCurley has recorded double-figure digs six times this season, including four out of the last five contests and has averaged nearly 18 digs over the last five matches. Senior Emily Conlin, the two-time reigning SAC Specialist of the Week, continues to outpace the rest of the league in both assists and assists per set, while ranking 10th in service aces and 20th in digs.

Tusculum
The Pioneers, who posted a 6-20 overall record a year ago, including a 4-16 mark and a 10th-place finish in South Atlantic Conference action, were a preseason pick to finish tied for eighth, alongside Catawba, in the 2019 South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Tusculum (6-6, 4-3 CC) has won two straight and three of its last four decisions and is coming off impressive back-to-back sweeps of Queens and Catawba last weekend.

Freshman Emiah Burrowes is fourth in the league with 3.10 kills per set, with teammate Gabby Gray standing second in overall kills, with 128. Sophomore libero Carly Sosnowski ranks fifth in the conference with 4.87 digs per set and is ninth with 185 total digs, with classmate Taylor Blythe ranking second in the SAC with a .388 hitting percentage.

The Series vs. the Pioneers
Tusculum owns a 15-11 advantage in the overall series that dates back to the 1997 season, with nine 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 2013 NCAA Southeast Regional, marking Anderson's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.

The Trojans have won six straight and eight of the last nine matchups on the strength of sweeping the last three seasons' regular-season meetings.

UVa-Wise
The Cavaliers, who are in their first season as members of the South Atlantic Conference, who posted a 5-25 overall record a year ago, including a 2-14 mark in Mountain East Conference action, were a preseason pick to finish 12th in the 2019 SAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

UVa-Wise (1-10, 0-7 CC) has dropped 10 consecutive decisions after capturing a season-opening, five-set win over Fayetteville State in early September and will be seeking its first conference win when the Cavs square off against Newberry, Friday night.

Redshirt senior Ciara Kain, who was named Preseason Second-Team All-SAC, posted a season-high 26 kills in the five-set loss to Concord last Tuesday night, while freshman Meagan Blagg added a season-high 14 kills for the Cavs. Fellow freshman Zoe Avery handed out a season-high 62 assists in the match.

Teammate Makayla Ledford is fourth in the SAC with 7.61 assists per set. Senior Morgan Milligan leads the team and is tied for sixth in the league with 193 digs on the season.

The Series vs. the Cavaliers
Saturday afternoon's matchup will be the first meeting in school history between the two teams.