ANDERSON, S.C. – After capturing a pair of victories at last week's Yellow Jacket Invite in Cedarville, Ohio, the Anderson University volleyball team will open its' South Atlantic Conference schedule by traveling to unbeaten and 25th-ranked Wingate, Friday night and will visit Coker less than 24 hours later.

Friday night's contest will be an early-season matchup of the league's preseason top two teams, with Wingate the odds-on favorite, while the Trojans notched a pair of first-place votes and were tabbed second in the SAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

The Trojans
Anderson (2-1, 0-0 SAC) will be looking for its third straight road win when the two teams collide tomorrow night at Cuddy Arena. After falling to UIndy last Friday night, the Trojans posted back-to-back sweeps over Cedarville and Northwood, respectively.

The Trojans are coming off a 2018 campaign that saw them equal a program-best 28 victories and advance to the semifinals of the NCAA Southeast Region Tournament for the second straight year last season, while seniors Emily Conlin and Hailee Wilhelm, along with junior Regan Duty earned Preseason All-South Atlantic Conference honors late last month.

AU ranks in the top third of the league in kills per set (13.40/set), hitting percentage (.197), assists per set (12.70/set), service aces per set (2.10/set) and points per set (17.0/set).

Conlin leads the league with 11.50 assists per set and ranks third with 115 total assists, while sophomore Hannah Worsham (.415) and Wilhelm (.410) are third and fifth in the conference in hitting percentage, respectively.

Freshman Lindsay McCurley, who nailed five service aces in last Saturday's shutout of Northwood, is third in the SAC in aces per set (.70/set) and is tied for sixth in the conference with seven on the young season. Sophomore Meghan DeVaux is averaging 4.30 digs per set, which is good for ninth in the league.

Wingate
The Bulldogs, who went 32-2 overall in 2018, with a 19-1 SAC record, were a preseason pick for the 14th consecutive year to finish first in the 2019 SAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Wingate (5-0, 0-0 SAC) has been idle since blanking Limestone, 3-0 (25-15, 25-11, 25-12) two nights ago and has lost just one set this season – to Converse.
The 'Dogs are 118-5 at Cuddy Arena dating back to the 2011 campaign, with their last loss at home a 3-1 setback to fifth-ranked Wheeling Jesuit on Oct. 1, 2016.

Wingate is led by reigning SAC and Southeast Region Player of the Year, Rachel Alles. The Bulldogs are the defending SAC Regular Season, SAC Tournament and NCAA Southeast Region Champions and topped the 30-win mark for the for the ninth time in the last 12 seasons a year ago. The Trojans handed Wingate one of its two losses – and its' only conference setback – last season. The Bulldogs have lost just six conference contests over the last three seasons, with the Trojans dealing them three of those setbacks – all at the Abney Center.

The Bulldogs have won 12 of the last 13 regular-season SAC titles – the Trojans brought home the 2017 championship - while also capturing 11 of the last 13 SAC Tournament championships. In that time, Wingate has also won five NCAA Southeast Region Championships.

Alles, a senior setter, was named Preseason First-Team All-SAC and is the reigning SAC Specialist of the Week after earning the honor earlier this week, marking the ninth time of her career.

The Series vs. Wingate
After defeating the Bulldogs just once in the first 17 years of the program, the Trojans have knocked off the perennial regional powerhouse three times in their last six meetings.

Anderson will enter Friday's contest looking for its second victory in three meetings with Wingate and its fifth overall win in school history past the Bulldogs. A win would mark just their fourth victory since 1999, when the Trojans were in their first year as a member of NCAA Division II. Wingate has won 22 of the last 25 matchups and leads the overall series, 22-4.

The Trojans snapped a 19-match skid at the hands of their SAC opponent when they stunned Wingate with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-8, 25-14) win at the Abney Center in mid-October of the 2016 campaign. At the time, the loss marked just the Bulldog's fourth SAC loss in three years. The Bulldogs avenged the loss by sweeping AU, 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-22) in their first meeting two seasons in the Tar Heel State.

History repeated itself on Homecoming Weekend two years ago, when the Trojans handed the 21st-ranked Bulldogs their first loss of the season at the Abney Center.

After dropping a four-set decision at Wingate last September, the Trojans knocked off the Bulldogs, 3-1 (25-21, 25-16, 18-25, 25-19) on Senior Night last year.

In addition to the regular season home-and-home matchups, the two teams have squared off in two of the last six SAC Tournament Championships, with the Bulldogs sweeping AU on both occasions.

Coker
The Cobras, who posted a 13-16 overall record a season ago, including a 5-15 mark and an eighth place finish in the conference, were a preseason pick to finish 10th in the 2019 SAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

The Cobras returned 11 players from last season, while adding six freshmen and one transfer to this year's roster.

Senior outside hitter Taylor du Bray was named Preseason First-Team All-South Atlantic Conference after setting Coker single-season records in kills (373) and kills per set (3.73) last season. Her 373 kills ranked second in the conference.

First-year head coach Travis Nead's Cobras are 2-1 overall after collecting two wins at the UNC Pembroke Tournament last Saturday.

The Series vs. Coker
The Trojans own a 33-7 record versus the Cobras over the past 21 seasons and have won 22 of the last 25 meetings, including 20 straight.