ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson University volleyball team is scheduled to open a four-match homestand – its' final homestand of the season - by welcoming UVA Wise and league-leading Tusculum to the Abney Athletic Center this weekend. First-serve against the Cavaliers is slated for Friday at 6 p.m., with the Pioneers invading the Abney Center, Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Trojans will play host to Newberry, Tuesday night at 7 p.m., then close out the regular season with a contest against Limestone a week from tomorrow.
With four matches left on some schedules and three on others in the regular season, the Pioneers are a ½ game ahead of second place Lenoir-Rhyne and 1 ½ games ahead of both Anderson and Wingate, which share third place in the league standings.
WHO: Anderson Trojans (16-6, 11-3 SAC) vs. UVA Wise Cavaliers (4-18, 0-14 SAC)
WHERE: Abney Athletic Center; Anderson, S.C.
WHEN: Friday, 6 p.m.
WHO: Anderson Trojans (16-6, 11-3 SAC) vs. Tusculum Pioneers (17-3, 13-2 SAC)
WHERE: Abney Athletic Center; Anderson, S.C.
WHEN: Saturday, 2 p.m.
Anderson Attendance Policy
Masks are encouraged inside all buildings on campus. Guests must maintain at least 6 feet of distance from anyone outside of their family group.
Fans are always encouraged to check with the host institution before making plans to attend any games in person.
The Trojans
AU wrapped up its road slate with a 12-4 mark away from Annie Tribble Court and has notched nine sweeps on the season, including four straight. The Trojans currently lead the South Atlantic Conference in kills per set (13.49/set) hitting percentage (.245) and assists per set (12.69/set) and are hitting .277 over their last nine outings after posting a season-high .370 hitting accuracy at Lincoln Memorial last Friday. Ironically AU's only dip below .200 over the last month came against LMU at the Abney Center on Oct. 15.
Sophomore Jaelyn Grimm boasts a team-high .350 hitting percentage and ranks second in the league, with seniors Regan Duty (.331) and Noelle Knutsen (.314) just behind in third and fourth place, respectively.
AU junior Madison Roy is the reigning AstroTurf SAC Offensive Player of the Week. The North Myrtle Beach native leads the conference in both assists and assists per set and captured the honor after averaging 12 assists per set in a pair of road sweeps last week, while totaling 72 assists and adding a kill, an ace, nine blocks and 11 digs on the week.
She has recorded at least 40 assists on 14 occasions, while reaching the 50+ assist plateau six times this season. She set a career-high with 53 assists in back-to-back contests against Newberry and Mars Hill and has posted eight double-doubles this season.
Duty ranks 11th in the SAC with a career-high 2.81 kills per set and has recorded double-digit kills 11 times this season, including three of the last five contests. The Inman native has hit better than .400 four times this season and recorded a career-high 20 kills against Mars Hill in late September.
Knutsen is second on the team and 15th in the league with 2.60 kills per set, while posting a career-high 24 kills in the earlier meeting with Lincoln Memorial. The Parker, Colo., native is ninth in the league with 72 total blocks, while averaging more than four blocks per match over the past seven outings.
Sophomore Sadie Kluner has nearly averaged double-digit kills over the last four matches, while hitting .322 over the same time span. She has posted double-digit kills 10 times, while recording a career-best 13 against both Tusculum and Mars Hill. Grimm is fifth on the squad with 165 kills, including a career-high 17 in the first meeting with Lincoln Memorial and has reached double-figure kills on nine occasions.
Senior Maya Learmonth has recorded 160 kills (2.42/set) this season, while reaching double-figure kills eight times and equaling her season-high with 14 against Carson-Newman. Sophomore Tabitha Wheeler has averaged 8.5 kills per match over the last two contests, while hitting .333 over the two-match span.
Senior Meghan DeVaux has moved past former standout Jayln Knight for 13th place in the school record books with 1,287 career digs and currently ranks ninth on school history with her 3.58 career digs per set average. Junior Lindsay McCurley is 35th in the conference with 2.40 digs per set, with junior Alexandra Petrilli adding 2.23 digs per set. Freshman Hannah Neff has recorded 161 digs on the season and leads a balanced effort with 29 service aces on the year.
UVA Wise
The Cavaliers (4-18, 0-14 SAC), were a preseason pick to finish 13th in the South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll after going winless in eight outings in the COVID-shortened spring season and going 1-26 overall, including an 0-22 mark in league play during their inaugural season in the SAC in 2019.
UVA Wise has dropped seven consecutive decisions after defeating future SAC-member Emory & Henry in five sets, early last month. The Cavaliers are searching for their first-ever win in conference play.
The Cavaliers' roster featured nine newcomers this season, with just two seniors on the squad - Matelyn Gibson, and Kelsey Green. Junior Adison Minor led the team with 56 kills during the spring.
The Series vs. UVA Wise
The Trojans and Cavaliers have met just three times in school history, with AU blanking the Cavs both times during the 2019 season and claiming a four-set win earlier this season.
The two teams did not meet during the spring campaign.
The earlier meeting saw Grimm lead all players with a then career-high 11 kills on a .391 hitting percentage. Wheeler nearly posted her first double-double of the season after knocking down nine kills and adding 15 digs. Duty added eight kills on a .533 hitting percentage, while Knutsen also tallied eight kills behind a .444 attacking accuracy.
Senior outside hitter Liliana Kinder tallied a season-best eight kills on the strength of a .400 attack percentage, with Roy recording a match-best 44 assists and chipping in a season-high 14 digs for her fourth double-double of the campaign. DeVaux came up with a match-high 18 digs, while Neff garnered nine digs.
Tusculum
The Pioneers (17-3, 13-2 SAC), who are coming off a stunning, 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-23) loss last night at 10th-place Newberry, were a preseason pick to finish sixth in the South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll after posting a 2-4 mark last spring and going 15-14 in 2019 after falling to the Trojans in the quarterfinals of the South Atlantic Conference Tournament.
Tusculum leads the SAC standings and had reeled off seven straight wins before falling to the Wolves Wednesday night. The Pioneers' only other league loss was also a sweep - (25-13, 25-20, 25-11) - at Lenoir-Rhyne on Oct. 1.
Right-side hitter Peyton Gash and Carli Pigza earned 2021 Preseason Second-Team All-SAC honors in late August, after Gash led the Pioneers in the spring with 54 kills behind a .281 hitting percentage. She captured Honorable Mention All-SAC and All-Freshman Team honors at the conclusion of the spring season. Pigza was second on the team with 41 kills, while adding a team-high 18 blocks.
Teammate Carly Sosnowski was named MVP of the IUP Tournament, while Pizga was named to the All-Tournament Team. Sosnowski tallied 89 digs, 18 assists, and a pair of aces. Pizga recorded 45 kills, 10 total blocks and nine digs.
Junior outside hitter Raeley Matthews was named the South Atlantic Conference AstroTurf Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 6, after leading the team with 55 kills, five assists, five service aces, 53 digs and four block assists at the Indiana (Pa.) Invitational. Teammate Emiah Burrowes has claimed SAC AstroTurf Offensive Player of the Week twice this season, with Sosnowski taking home SAC AstroTurf Defensive Player of the Week accolades on Sept. 20.
The Series vs. Tusculum
Tusculum owns a 17-13 advantage in the overall series that dates back to the 1997 season, with 11 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.
With the Pioneers limited by COVID, the two teams did not meet during the spring season, but squared off three times in 2019 – and after splitting the regular-season matchups, the Trojans bumped Tusculum out of the SAC Tournament with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-8) win in Nov., 2019 at the Abney Center.
Tusculum claimed a four-set win over the Trojans in mid-September at Pioneer Arena, with Kluner posting 13 kills, while Grimm added 10 kills and three block assists on the afternoon. Learmonth tallied eight kills and six digs, while Duty notched six kills, a pair of digs and a block assist.
Roy claimed her fifth double-double of the season by handing out 35 assists and coming up with 10 digs. The North Myrtle Beach native also notched a pair of block assists. DeVaux took team-high honors with 19 digs and added three service aces, with Petrilli garnering eight digs.
