ANDERSON, S.C. – After wrapping up the regular season by winning nine of its final 12 contests, the Anderson University volleyball team will be searching for the program's fifth appearance in seven seasons and its first automatic bid to the NCAA Southeast Regional, as the No. 3 seeded Trojans will play host to sixth-seeded Tusculum, Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of this week's South Atlantic Conference Tournament.
The Trojans and Tusculum will be meeting for the third time this season, including the second time in five days, with first-serve slated for 7 p.m. at the Abney Athletic Center.
The Trojans
Anderson (21-6, 17-5 SAC) is making its eighth consecutive trip to the conference tournament and ninth overall after joining the league for the 2010 campaign.
Anderson is 6-8 in its previous eight appearances in the conference tournament - The Trojans were the No. 6 seed in 2010 and suffered a narrow, 3-2, setback to third-seeded Lincoln Memorial in the quarterfinals. After missing out on the postseason in 2011, AU dropped a 3-1 decision to top-seeded Wingate as the eighth seed seven years ago.
The Trojans entered the 2013 tournament as the sixth seed and promptly upset third-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne in the quarterfinals and second-seeded Tusculum in the semifinals before falling to Wingate in the finals. The 2014 postseason saw the Black and Gold earn a No. 3 seed, with Anderson reaching the NCAA Tournament for the third time in school history in 2014 after claiming the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory with a four-set win over Tusculum six seasons ago (2013). The Trojans earned victories past Lincoln Memorial and stunned Carson-Newman in the 2014 tourney, while advancing to the finals of the event before falling to eventual champion Wingate for the second straight year in the 2014 championship tilt.
Four seasons ago, AU extended eventual NCAA Southeast Region Champion Carson-Newman to five sets before succumbing at the Abney Athletic Center, while falling to Queens in the 2016 quarterfinals.
As the No. 1 seed two years ago, the Trojans swept Coker at the Abney Center, then dropped a five-set, 3-2 (18-25, 25-22, 12-25, 25-21, 15-10) decision to No. 4 seed and host Carson-Newman before capturing the fourth seed in the NCAA Tournament. AU blanked Queens in the Southeast Region Quarterfinals before falling in five sets to host Flagler. As the No. 2 seed a year ago, the Trojans knocked off Mars Hill in four sets at the Abney Center, before falling in five sets to third-seeded Lincoln Memorial in the tourney semifinals.
AU also reached the NCAA Tournament in 2008 after winning the Conference Carolinas Tournament.
The Trojans, who have been ranked for back-to-back weeks in the NCAA's Southeast Region weekly rankings – and were fourth last week - have reached the 20+ win plateau for the third straight season and fourth time in six years.
As a team, the Trojans rank seventh nationally in aces per set and ninth in total aces, while ranking in the top third of the league in assists, kills, kills per set, hitting percentage and assists per set.
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. A native of Glendale, Ariz., the two-time All-American has posted 18 double-doubles on the season and has handed out double-figure assists in every contest this season. She has reached 40+ assists on 15 occasions, including a season-high 54 twice.
Sophomore Maya Learmonth has posted double-digit kills in 13 matches and paces a balanced Trojan offensive attack with 250 kills. She ranks 15th in the league, while senior Hailee Wilhelm is just behind – tied for 16th – with 240 kills on the season. Wilhelm (.336) and Noelle Knutsen (.326) are fourth and fifth, respectively, in the conference in hitting percentage, with Knutsen standing 14th in the conference with 78 total blocks.
Freshman Lindsay McCurley is 39th in the country with 45 service aces on the season, while pacing the Black and Gold and standing eighth in the conference with 393 total digs.
The Pioneers
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.
But Tusculum (15-13, 12-10 SAC) surpassed those expectations and finished in a tie for fifth, alongside Mars Hill, but the Lions held the tiebreaker over Tusculum after defeating the Pioneers twice during the season. Tusculum has won two straight and three of its last four decisions, including a sweep of the Trojans last Friday night.
Freshman Emiah Burrowes is third in the league in both kills (320) and kills per set (3.52/set), with teammate Gabby Gray standing fifth in overall kills, with 302, and seventh in kills per set (2.93/set). Sophomore libero Carly Sosnowski ranks fifth in the conference with 4.89 digs per set and is fourth with 479 total digs, with classmate Taylor Blythe tied for first in the SAC with a .382 hitting percentage. TU's Elise Carmichael is fourth in the SAC with 44 service aces on the season.
The Series vs. Tusculum
Tusculum owns a 16-12 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 nine of the last 11 matchups on the strength of sweeping the last three seasons' regular-season meetings prior to this year, but Tusculum snapped a seven-match losing streak at the hands of the Trojans by sweeping AU, 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-19) three days ago in the Volunteer State. With the win, Tusculum earned a split of the series for the first time since the 2015 campaign. AU squeezed past the Pioneers, 3-1 (25-27, 30-28, 25-14, 25-16) when the two teams tangled at the Abney Center back in early October.
In two matches versus the Pioneers this season, Wilhelm led the Black and Gold by knocking down 20 kills on a .432 hitting percentage and coming up with five blocks. Learmonth added 14 kills, with freshman Taylor Weber and teammate Regan Duty each posting 11 kills apiece. Conlin dished out 70 assists (10.00/set) and recorded 24 digs. McCurley averaged 3.57 digs per set, while freshman Alexandra Petrilli notched six aces against the Pioneers.
SAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Tuesday, Nov. 19 (at highest seeds)
Game 1: #1 Wingate vs. #8 Lincoln Memorial, 7:00pm
Game 2: #4 Carson-Newman vs. #5 Mars Hill, 7:00pm
Game 3: #2 Queens vs. #7 Lenoir-Rhyne, 7:00pm
Game 4: #3 Anderson vs. #6 Tusculum, 7:00pm
Friday, Nov. 22 (at Queens University of Charlotte)
Game 5: winner game 1 vs. winner game 2, 4:00pm
Game 6: winner game 3 vs. winner game 4, 6:30pm
Saturday, Nov. 23 (at Queens University of Charlotte)
Game 7: winner game 5 vs. winner game 6, 2:00pm
SAC TOURNAMENT INDIVIDUAL DAILY TICKETS:
Quarterfinals: Adult - $ 5.00; Youth (12 and under)/Senior (60+) Active or Retired Military - $3.00; College Students with college ID - $ 2.00
Semifinals: (Friday, Nov. 22; Charlotte, N.C.) Adult - $ 10.00; Youth (12 and under)/Senior (60+) Active or Retired Military - $6.00; College Students with college ID - $ 2.00
Finals: Adult - (Saturday, Nov. 23; Charlotte, N.C.) $ 8.00; Youth (12 and under)/Senior (60+) Active or Retired Military - $5.00; College Students with college ID - $ 2.00
2019 SAC Volleyball Championship Bracket (pdf)
CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW THE 2019 SAC VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
