ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson University volleyball team will wrap up the first half of its grueling double round-robin South Atlantic Conference schedule this weekend, as the Trojans open a two-match road trip at Catawba, Friday night and square off against Queens on Saturday afternoon.

First-serve versus the Indians at Goodman Gym is slated for 7 p.m., with the matchup against the Royals at the Levine Center slated for 2 p.m.

The Trojans
Anderson (11-2, 8-1 SAC), has won nine straight and 11 of its last 12 outings and is looking to improve to 7-1 away from the Abney Athletic Center. The Trojans are one game behind Wingate and a game in front of Queens in the conference standings as the league slate nears its midway point.

Sophomore outside hitter Maya Learmonth is fourth in the South Atlantic Conference with her 3.26 kills per set and stands ninth in the league with 127 total kills. The Pflugerville, Texas, native has reached double-figure kills in six matches, including a stretch of four straight contests in September. Junior hitter Regan Duty is 15th in the conference in hitting percentage, 17th in kills per set and 20th in kills, while posting a .312 hitting percentage over the last four matches.

Freshman Taylor Weber is third on the team with 98 kills, while averaging eight kills per match over the last six outings. Senior Hailee Wilhelm has risen to third in the league and 19th nationally with her .388 hitting percentage, while posting a .422 hitting accuracy over the last half dozen matches. The Columbus, Ohio, native has averaged nine kills per match since the end of September. Sophomore middle hitter Noelle Knutsen has notched double-figure kills in three of AU's last six contests, while notching nine kills in two of the other three. The Parker, Colo., native is hitting .389 over the last five matches.

The Trojan defense continues to see a balanced effort, with four players reaching the century mark in digs for the season. Freshman Lindsay McCurley is 13th in the SAC with a team-leading 164 digs after recording double-figure digs on seven occasions, including a season-high 23 against both Lenoir-Rhyne and Mars Hill. Sophomore Meghan DeVaux is also averaging more than three digs per set and has tallied double-figure digs nine times this season.

Senior Emily Conlin continues to lead the league in both assists and assists per set (19th nationally), while ranking 11th in service aces and 21st in digs. The Glendale, Ariz., native has seven double-doubles and has reached the 40-assist plateau seven times. Freshman Alexandra Petrilli is third in the league with 23 service aces after reeling off nine just this last weekend.

Catawba
The Indians, who posted a 10-22 overall record a year ago, including a 6-14 mark and an eighth-place finish in South Atlantic Conference action, were a preseason pick to finish tied for eighth, alongside Tusculum, in the 2019 South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Catawba (3-8, 2-7 SAC) has dropped four straight decisions and five of its last six outings and is 2-3 at Goodman Gym this season.

Kylie Morgan, who posted 196 kills as a freshman last season for the Indians, including a team-best 2.33 per set, is currently second in the league with 4.06 kills per set. Middle hitter Allie Grubb, a senior, posted a team-high 230 kills and 63 blocks a season ago, while senior setter Morgan Hester averaged nine assists per set last season. Sophomore Jessica Walker is second in the SAC with 1.33 blocks per set.

The Series vs. the Indians
The Trojans and Indians have met just 18 times, all as members of the South Atlantic Conference. AU holds a 13-5 advantage in the overall series and has won 12 of the last 14 meetings, including five straight.

The teams split the regular-season matchups during Anderson's inaugural season in the league in 2010, with the Trojans winning seven straight over Catawba before the Lady Indians blanked AU in the second regular-season matchup in Salisbury during the 2015 campaign. Anderson had swept the regular-season matchups from 2012-14 after Catawba swept both meetings during the 2011 season.

Queens
The Royals, who posted a 14-15 overall record a year ago, including a 10-10 mark in league action, were a preseason pick to finish fifth in the 2019 SAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Queens (10-3, 7-2 SAC) has won three straight and nine of its last 11 contests, with its only league losses coming to Wingate and Tusculum.

The junior trio of Casey Tarvin, Logan Witt and JayCee Jones captured Preseason All-SAC honors. Tarvin, a 2018 First-Team All-Region and All-Conference Selection, finished second in the league last year with 3.70 kills per set, while registering a league-best 392 kills and adding 4.34 digs per set on the year. The Leander, Texas native notched 17 double-doubles on the season, while topping the 20-kill mark four times.

Witt was an Honorable Mention All-Conference honoree last season after finishing the 2018 season among the SAC's top offensive players with 294 total kills. The Moseley, Va. native led the Royals with 71 total blocks and had 16 matches with double-digit kills. Jones led the NCAA by averaging 22.07 digs per set. The Littleton, Colo., native recorded a career-high 40 digs in the regular-season finale against the Trojans.

Witt currently ranks second in the SAC with her .402 hitting percentage, while Jones is fourth in the league with 4.96 digs per set. Senior setter Mallory Swarts is second behind Conlin in the conference standings with 10.04 assists per set. The Royals' Brooke Farley is tied for eighth in the league, alongside DeVaux, with 20 aces on the season.

The Series vs. the Royals
The Trojans are 27-12 versus Queens over the past 20 seasons and have won 24 of the last 30 meetings, including five of the last seven matchups. The two teams have met just 13 times since 2009, when both were members of Conference Carolinas, with Queens joining the SAC in 2013.

The two teams split last season's regular-season matchups, with each squad defending its home court. AU knocked off the Royals, 3-1 (25-22, 25-15, 20-25, 25-21) in early October at the Abney Center, with Queens avenging the loss by outlasting the Trojans in five sets a month later in Charlotte, N.C.

The Trojans defeated Queens, 3-1, in the 2017 season's first regular-season matchup in Charlotte, in a victory that ignited AU's school-record 22-match win streak, then swept the Royals at the Abney Center in mid-October and again in the opening round of the 2017 NCAA Southeast Region Tournament in St. Augustine, Fla.