INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The senior duo of Noelle Knutsen and Liliana Kinder combined for 27 kills on the strength of a .436 hitting accuracy, as the Anderson volleyball team opened the season by shutting out McKendree, 3-0, (25-22, 25-17, 25-15) Friday morning, on the first day of the Indianapolis Tournament at the Greyhounds Athletics and Recreation Center.

Anderson won its second straight season opener, while McKendree slipped to 0-1 in its first contest of the year.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Knutsen led all players with 15 kills behind a .542 attacking percentage, while Kinder added a dozen kills on a .355 hitting accuracy, with each chipping in three block assists apiece. Junior Jaelyn Grimm tallied six block assists and five kills in nine attacks with no miscues for a .556 hitting percentage. Classmate Tabitha Wheeler chipped in four kills and came up with 10 digs for the Trojans.

Senior setter Madison Roy handed out 40 assists and notched three block assists on the morning, with sophomore middle hitter Brantley Chipley adding a pair of block assists. Senior Alexandra Petrilli and sophomore Hannah Neff came up with 16 digs and 12 digs, respectively.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
A late surge carried the Trojans to the opening-set win.

The Trojans were forced to play catch up early after committing four attack errors that enabled McKendree to jump out to a quick 5-1 lead.

Following a timeout, the Trojans chipped away to even the score, at 6-6, on Madison Roy's first kill, but they were unable to take the lead (8-7) until Liliana Kinder's first block of the morning. Rylie Sargent and Jaelyn Grimm then combined on a block assist to give AU a two-point lead, at 9-7, and a kill by Sergeant capped the 9-2 scoring outburst and boosted AU's advantage to 10-7.

The Trojans widened their lead to four on three occasions and led, 19-16, before the Bearcats rallied to even the score at 20-20 with three consecutive points. But the Trojans refused to relinquish the lead, with Knutsen's sixth kill giving them a 21-20 edge.

Neff followed with an ace and a MeKendree error gave AU a 23-20 edge. Following another McKendree score, Knutsen's seventh kill of the set moved AU to set point. The Bearcats held on by knocking down a kill, but the Trojans closed out the win on another McKendree miscue.

Second Set
Behind an early .267 hitting percentage, the Trojans doubled up the Bearcats, at 10-5, on back-to-back kills by Knutsen, and while boosting their accuracy to .368 as a team, they built a 13-6 advantage and again doubled up the Bearcats, at 16-8.

But, with AU leading 17-10, McKendree rattled off a 5-1 run to close the gap to just three points. Knutsen snuffed out the surge with another kill, then combined with Roy for back-to-back block assists and AU quickly rebuilt a 23-16 advantage and went on to claim the eight-point win on a block assist from Kinder and Grimm.

Third Set
The Trojans again struck early and never trailed, while steadily crafting a 10-5 lead on a .385 attacking accuracy.

Behind Kinder's sixth kill of the frame, AU claimed a late 20-13 edge and cruised to the double-digit victory.

ANDERSON STAT OF THE MORNING
Jaelyn Grimm's six block assists matched the 21st-highest total in school history.

NOTABLES
• The Bearcats returned 13 letterwinners from last year's squad, including four starters.
• The Trojans and Bearcats were meeting for the first time in program history.
• AU notched 22 block assists on the morning.
• The Trojans outhit McKendree, .248/.073, in the season opener.

UP NEXT
Anderson will get back on the court quickly, with the Trojans set to square off against the host Greyhounds, Friday night at 6 p.m.