ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson University volleyball team will wrap up its regular-season slate this weekend with a pair of South Atlantic Conference matchups, with the Trojans scheduled to visit Tusculum, Friday night and follow up with a Saturday afternoon contest at UVa-Wise.

First-serve versus the Pioneers in Greeneville, Tenn., is set for 7 p.m., with the matchup against the Cavaliers in the Commonwealth slated for 2 p.m.

The Trojans
Anderson (20-5, 16-4 SAC), has won eight of its last 10 decisions and has clinched a berth in next week's eight-team SAC Tournament. The Trojans are alone in third place in the league standings, while trailing second-place Queens by one game with the two games remaining on the regular-season schedule. Wingate has already clinched its 13th regular-season title in 14 years.

Senior setter Emily Conlin, who leads the SAC in assists and assists per set, ranks 32nd in the nation in assists per set, while standing 13th in the SAC in digs and 17th in digs per set. Sophomore Maya Learmonth leads the Trojans and stands 13th in the league with 242 kills, while sophomore Noelle Knutsen (.335) and senior Hailee Wilhelm (.328) are fourth and fifth, respectively in the conference in hitting percentage. Knutsen is also tied for 11th with 77 total blocks. Freshman Lindsay McCurley is 36th in the country with 44 service aces on the season, while pacing the Black and Gold and standing eighth in the conference with 380 total digs.

Tusculum
The Pioneers, who posted a 6-20 overall record a year ago, including a 4-16 mark and a 10th-place finish in South Atlantic Conference action, were a preseason pick to finish tied for eighth, alongside Catawba, in the 2019 South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Tusculum (13-13, 10-10 SAC) has surpassed last season's win total and is battling for a berth in next week's conference tournament. The Pioneers have dropped three of their last four decisions and are tied for sixth in the league standings entering Friday night's matchup.

Freshman Emiah Burrowes is third in the league in both kills (295) and kills per set (3.51/set), with teammate Gabby Gray standing fifth in overall kills, with 282, and seventh in kills per set (2.94/set). Sophomore libero Carly Sosnowski ranks third in the conference with 4.95 digs per set and is fifth with 450 total digs, with classmate Taylor Blythe ranking second in the SAC with a .384 hitting percentage. Sophomore setter Catherine Clingan has 34 service aces on the season, which puts her at No. 10 in the SAC.

The Series vs. the Pioneers
Tusculum owns a 15-12 advantage in the overall series that dates back to the 1997 season, with 10 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.

The Trojans have won seven straight and nine of the last 10 matchups on the strength of sweeping the last three seasons' regular-season meetings. AU got past the Pioneers, 3-1 (25-27, 30-28, 25-14, 25-16) when the two teams tussled at the Abney Athletic Center back in early October.

UVa-Wise
The Cavaliers, who are in their first season as members of the South Atlantic Conference, posted a 5-25 overall record a year ago, including a 2-14 mark in Mountain East Conference action. UVa-Wise was a preseason pick to finish 12th in the 2019 SAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

UVa-Wise (1-24, 0-20 SAC) is winless in conference action and has dropped 24 consecutive decisions after capturing a season-opening, five-set win over Fayetteville State in early September and will be seeking its first conference win when the Cavs square off against Newberry, Friday night.

Redshirt senior Ciara Kain, who was named Preseason Second-Team All-SAC, is 24th in the conference with 2.39 kills per set and 26th in the league with 191 total kills. Senior Morgan Milligan leads the team and is 11th in the league with 341 digs on the season, while teammate Zoe Avery is 10th in the SAC with 5.29 assists per set.

The Series vs. the Cavaliers
Saturday afternoon's matchup will be just the second meeting in school history between the two teams.

AU swept UVa-Wise, 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-15) back in early October at the Abney Athletic Center in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

Knutsen led all players with nine kills, with junior Kaitlyn Grube adding eight kills. Freshman Taylor Weber notched seven kills, while Learmonth and Hannah Worsham each tallied six kills apiece.

Sophomore setter Madison Roy handed out a match-high 28 assists, with Conlin dishing out 13 assists. Roy also paced the Trojans with eight digs on the afternoon. McCurley notched seven digs and three aces, with classmate Alexandra Petrilli notching four aces. Junior Christina Stacy also recorded seven digs.