ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson University volleyball team wrapped up its regular-season home slate by falling, 3-1 (25-18, 19-25, 21-25, 13-25) to South Atlantic Conference-opponent Queens, Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center.
Anderson slipped to 20-5 overall and 16-4 in the league, while Queens (20-5, 17-3 SAC) swept the season series with the Trojans and claimed sole possession of second place in the conference standings.
"We faced a solid Queens team who has been playing some really strong volleyball as of late and we had a really tough time sustaining consistent pressure on them," said Anderson head coach Todd Hay. "However, we did have some bright spots today with our middles playing pretty well. Unfortunately, we could not get them the ball enough in system and had to set a lot to the pin hitters out of system. It's just so tough to win the high-level matches when we can't consistently get the ball to the setter in the right spot."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Senior Hailee Wilhelm led the Trojans with 14 kills behind a .343 hitting percentage, while adding three solo blocks and a pair of block assists. Junior Kaitlyn Grube tallied 10 kills, with sophomore Maya Learmonth chipping in eight kills. Senior setter Emily Conlin notched her 16th double-double of the season with 41 assists and a team-high 21 digs. Freshman Lindsay McCurley recorded 20 digs, while freshman Alexandra Petrilli posted 13 digs and sophomore Meghan DeVaux added 11. Junior Regan Duty collected six kills and three block assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
Behind four kills apiece from Duty, Grube and Wilhelm the Trojans opened strong and posted a .250 hitting percentage. AU scored the first four points of the frame and never trailed.
The Royals battled back to knot the score at eight apiece, before a kill from Learmonth sparked a 12-3 scoring run to give the Black and Gold an insurmountable lead, at 20-11. Queens crept to within four late in the set, but the Trojans held back any rally attempts and went on to the seven-point win.
Second Set
The Trojans stumbled in the second frame, while committing six attack errors.
Queens snapped an early 4-4 deadlock with a 12-5 surge and claimed a lead that the Royals would not surrender. AU trimmed their lead to 19-15, but was unable to get any closer down the stretch.
Third Set
Wilhelm led the Black and Gold with five kills during the frame, but the Trojans fell behind early. AU rallied to even the score at 17-17 on a kill by the Columbus, Ohio, native, however Queens countered with three unanswered points to regain the advantage and held on for the four-point win.
Fourth Set
Queens used a blistering .469 hitting percentage in the final set, as the Royals jumped out to an early 8-3 advantage.
The Trojans narrowed the gap to just four, but QUC used a 6-2 spurt to widen its lead and steadily built a late double-digit 23-13 cushion before taking the 12-point victory.
NOTABLES
• The Royals swept the regular-season series for the first time since joining the South Atlantic Conference and winning at the Abney Center for the first time since the 2013 campaign.
• The Trojans are in third place in the league standings and trail the Royals by one game with two to go.
UP NEXT
Following a five-day break, Anderson will wrap up the regular season with a two-game road swing at Tusculum and league newcomer UVa-Wise. First-serve versus the Pioneers is slated for Friday at 7 p.m.
