MARS HILL, N.C. – In a contest rife with postseason implications, a resilient Anderson volleyball team saw three players reach double-figure kills, as the Trojans toppled Mars Hill, 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-17, 28-26) Tuesday night at Stanford Arena.

"The team played pretty steady for most of the night and our serve and pass game improved throughout the match," said Anderson head coach Todd Hay. "The team is very happy with this tough win on the road against a very solid Mara Hill team."

Anderson improved to 16-4 overall and 10-3 in conference play with its fifth consecutive win and its seventh victory in eight outings. Coming off an NCAA Regional Tournament appearance last season, Mars Hill (14-3, 9-3 SAC) suffered its first home loss of the season after winning nine straight.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Senior outside hitter Liliana Kinder shared match-high honors with 16 kills, with senior middle hitter Noelle Knutsen adding 15 kills on a stellar .406 hitting percentage and posting five block assists on the night. Junior Rylie Sargent recorded a season-high 12 kills – including five in the opening set - behind a .393 hitting accuracy after committing just one miscue in 28 swings. The Greer native also matched her season high with four block assists.

Junior Jaelyn Grimm tallied eight kills, four digs and had three block assists, while Meg Sansbury also had eight kills, along with seven digs and a pair of block assists.

Junior setter Jenna Long recorded her second career double-double with a career-high 54 assists and 10 digs, while matching her career-best with four service aces. Senior Lindsay McCurley came up with a season-high 24 digs and two aces, with sophomore Hannah Neff adding a season-high 18 digs. Senior Alexandra Petrilli and junior Tabitha Wheeler notched 15 digs and 13 digs, respectively.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
The opening frame featured 10 ties and saw four lead changes, with neither team able to gain more than a three-point advantage until the closing moments.

The Trojans and Lions battled on nearly even terms, with an ace from Wheeler giving the Black and Gold a 15-14 edge and a lead they would not surrender. Mars Hill trimmed the deficit to just 20-19, but a strong finish propelled AU to the six-point win, with the Trojans scoring the final five points of the set.

Second Set
AU was unable to carry over the momentum and fell behind early. With the score knotted at 4-4, the Lions scored five unanswered points and the Trojans were unable to completely recover.

Trailing 23-18, the Trojans cut MHU's lead to just 24-22 after holding off set point twice, but they were unable to complete the comeback and fell by the three-point margin.

Third Set
With the Trojans holding an early 6-4 lead, the two teams traded four-point scoring runs, with AU's run coming as part of a 7-2 surge that saw the Trojans stake a 13-10 lead on an ace from Petrilli.

AU built a five-point advantage and held at least a two-point lead until closing the set with four straight points after the Lions had closed within 21-17.

Fourth Set
Mars Hill used an early 5-1 surge to claim a 7-3 advantage and held the lead until the Trojans scored three straight to knot the score for just the second time, at 15-15, then took their first lead (16-15) on the second straight attack error by the Lions.

The Trojans steadily pushed out to their largest lead of the frame, at 23-19, and looked to be in great shape, but Mars Hill countered with three straight points before Sansbury's second kill of the set put AU on the verge of claiming the match. However, the Lions capped a 5-1 run by evening the score at 24-24.
Kinder's 15th kill of the night gave the advantage back to AU, only to see the Lions score two straight and hold the edge, before Grimm stepped up with a kill, then followed by teaming with Neff for a block and Kinder clinched the win with a kill.

ANDERSON STAT OF THE GAME
The Trojans posted a .988 receiving percentage on the night, which is second only to the season-opening 1.000 receiving percentage in the win over McKendree.

NOTABLES
• The Trojans have posted exactly nine service aces in five straight matches.
• Jenna Long set a career high with 54 assists and notched her second double-double in four matches.
• Liliana Kinder's 16 kills were her second-highest tally of the season.
• Noelle Knutsen's five block assists matched her second-highest total of the season.
• Knutsen has hit .556 over the past five matches.
• The Trojans lead the overall series with Mars Hill, 21-11.
• AU has won 12 straight over the Lions after dropping three consecutive decisions to Mars Hill during the 2015 and 2016 campaigns.
• The Trojans improved to 7-3 away from home and are 6-2 in four-set matches.
• Mars Hill had opened the season with 10 consecutive home victories.
• Lindsay McCurley is one service ace from moving into a tie for 11th place all-time in AU's record books – and four shy of climbing into a tie for 10th place all-time.
• Noelle Knutsen has moved into 13th place in the school record books with 830 career kills.
• With a three-set road win at Mars Hill in 2017, the Trojans clinched their first-ever South Atlantic Conference Regular Season Championship.

UP NEXT
The Trojans are slated to visit Tusculum, Friday night before welcoming Lander to the Electric City on Tuesday.