ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Anderson University volleyball team will be looking for its sixth consecutive appearance in the South Atlantic Conference Championship this season after extending eventual NCAA Elite Eight participant Carson-Newman to the limit in the quarterfinals of the SAC Tournament a year ago.

Second-year head coach Gene Krieger's roster features 10 returning letterwinners, including a pair of all-conference selections from a year ago. Junior Serena Jackson was second on the team and ranked 15th in the league with 284 kills last season, while ranking seventh in the conference with a team-best .290 hitting percentage. Listed as a middle blocker, Jackson ranked 19th in the SAC with 59 total blocks.

"Having 10 players back from last year's squad will be helpful," said second-year head coach Gene Krieger. "Having that core group of experience will solve some of the little problems that we had during the learning curve last year. We also have some [talented] freshmen that are ready to come in and [play]."

Junior Marissa Mitter, an honorable mention all-conference performer a year ago, reached double-figure kills in seven of the final eight contests and knocked down a team-best 290 kills, which was good for 10th in the SAC, while leading the Trojans and ranking sixth in the SAC with 3.19 kills per set. The native of Redondo Beach, Calif., tallied double-figure kills in 13 matches, including a season-high 29 in the five-set loss to Carson-Newman in the conference tournament.

"Serena was an all-conference selection last year and seems to be healthy," added Krieger. "She was among the conference leaders in hitting percentage all season and Jessica [Harris] will probably be in top 10 in blocking this year. Marissa is an all-conference candidate for us this season."

The Trojans have six upperclassmen on the veteran roster, which features the returning senior duo of Allison Gaminde and Jessica Harris, alongside sophomore libero Emily Conard. Gaminde saw action in all 29 matches last season and ranked fifth on the team with 123 kills, including a season-high 10 in a five-set loss at Mars Hill, while standing third on the team with 48 total blocks. Harris has started 62 matches over the last two seasons and was third on the team with 221 kills a year ago, while leading the team and ranking 11th in the SAC with 80 total blocks.

Conard, who Krieger believes is one of the top three liberos in the conference, was one of only two Trojans to see action in all 109 sets last season, while leading the team with 497 digs, including a season-best 38 in the five-set win at Coker in mid-November. She reached double-figure digs on 26 occasions, including 18 consecutive matches from early September through late October.

"We will have some depth and options and a whole list of new faces that will be on the court, so it'll be interesting for our opponents to figure out," said Krieger. "And two or three freshmen playing regularly in the lineup. We will have some height that we didn't have last year and we will have more of a presence at the net."

"All three of our freshmen setters are experienced and all are talented, but they're all freshmen," noted Krieger. "We'll get them as much experience as we can early on and try to figure out and take it one day at a time."

AU will square off seven times against four teams that reached the NCAA Tournament last season and will be looking to advance to at least the finals of the SAC Championship for the third time in four years.

After opening the season by sandwiching appearances at the Columbus State tourney and the Francis Marion Tournament around a brief road trip to Coker, the Trojans will fight through the challenging SAC schedule. For the first time, the conference tournament format will have the top eight teams in the league squaring off on Tuesday, Nov. 16, at the home sites of the four top seeds, with the tournament semifinals and championship slated to be held on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 19-20, at Wingate.

"We want to finish in the top four in the conference standings," concluded Krieger," So we can have the luxury of hosting a first-round game in the SAC Tournament."