ANDERSON, S.C. – After reaching the South Atlantic Conference Tournament for the tenth consecutive season and hosting the NCAA Southeast Region Championship for the first time in program history last fall, Anderson head volleyball coach Todd Hay has announced the Trojans' 2022 schedule.
The sixth-year head coach, who owns a 110-30 (.786) record at the helm of the Trojan program, has built a 26-game regular-season schedule that features eight contests against six teams that made an appearance in last year's NCAA Tournament.
"Overall, it's a good schedule," said Hay. "We'll be challenged without being overmatched. It is a good mix of winnable matches, but some challenging matches. It will also allow us to try different lineups."
Over the previous four full seasons, the Trojans have averaged more than 25 victories after posting a 23-8 overall mark, including a 15-3 South Atlantic Conference record in 2021. Last season, Hay led the Trojans to a share of the SAC Regular Season Championship, their fourth consecutive 20-win season, and their seventh overall appearance in the NCAA Southeast Region Tournament.
The schedule is evenly balanced and features 10 true road games, three neutral-site contests and 13 matches in the friendly confines of the Abney Athletic Center.
The South Atlantic Conference slate will again feature 18 league matches, and with the conference splitting into divisions, the Trojans will play their Mountain Division opponents once and will square off against their Piedmont Division rivals twice – with the exception of travel partner Newberry – who will meet AU on three occasions.
In addition to the conference slate, the schedule features a quintet of first-time opponents, including league-newcomer Emory & Henry and a pair of nonconference foes that AU has not met since the 2018 campaign (Converse and Lander).
The nonconference schedule features eight contests, including a pair of foes from the Gulf South and Great Lakes Valley Conferences, as well as one opponent each from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate, Peach Belt, Lone Star and Conference Carolinas.
Following three preseason scrimmages and an exhibition at Western Carolina, Anderson will begin the journey toward its sixth appearance in eight NCAA Tournaments when the Trojans open the campaign on the road for the 10th time in 11 seasons.
AU opens the season by squaring off against McKendree and the host Greyhounds, Aug. 26, at the UIndy Invitational. The Trojans and Bearcats will be meeting for the first time in program history, while AU will be seeing UIndy for the third time overall and their first meeting since 2019.
"Part of the reason for the early season tournaments is to see new teams," added Hay. "We'll get to play some non-region opponents and I like starting against good competition. UIndy is a great host and Coach Reed has a good program - they're always competitive."
A day later, the Trojans will meet Wayne State for the first time in school history. The Warriors climbed as high as fifth in last season's AVCA Poll before finishing 18th with a 20-9 record after falling in five sets to No. 20 Michigan Tech in the opening round of the NCAA Midwest Regional. The Trojans wrap up their visit to the Hoosier State by squaring off against Montevallo from the Gulf South Conference for just the fourth time in program history. The Falcons won seven of their last eight outings last season and advanced to the finals of the GSC Tournament before falling to seventh-ranked West Florida and finished with a 21-14 mark.
"We are going there for good competition and we are going up there to win," noted Hay. "There are teams there that are going to be similar to the top of our league and the balance of the tournament is going to be really strong. There's not going to be an easy match in the bunch. It should be a challenge to open up the season there. It's good bonding time that time of the year to get on the road and go play some teams that are going to push you right off the bat, but yet doesn't hurt you regionally if you lose one or two matches."
AU returns to the Electric City and will open the month of September by hosting a tournament for the first time since the 2012 season as part of a five-match homestand. Catawba and first-year head coach Brenn Ferguson will invade the Abney Center (Sept. 1) for a rare Thursday night matchup as part of the Electric City Invitational, with the contest marking the Trojans' home opener, as well as both squads' conference-opening contest.
"We're really excited to host a tournament for the first time in over a decade," said Hay. "It fell into place and worked out locally. We'll spread it out over three days. We have wanted to do this for several years and probably won't be able to do it again for a few years after this, so we're excited to finally be able to do it. We've played pretty well at home and it's a great opportunity. There's a nice group of teams coming in – with good regional and non-regional representation."
Up next, the Trojans will square off against Texas A&M International (Sept. 2) for the first time, then later that day AU will play host to Converse and its new head coach in the 24th meeting between the two programs, but the first since 2018 and just the third time since 2009, when both were members of Conference Carolinas.
AU is slated to wrap up the tourney against The University of Alabama in Huntsville, which has won 20 or more games in four consecutive fall seasons and made the program's seventh NCAA tournament appearance a year ago. The Chargers finished 21-10 overall after falling to Nova Southeastern in the NCAA South Region Quarterfinals.
The Trojans wrap up the homestand by returning to conference action and welcoming Newberry to Annie Tribble Court on Sept. 6 for the first of three regular-season meetings between AU and the Wolves.
"It's nice to be able to start conference play at home," said Hay. "Newberry will have revamped look with some familiar faces, but new faces, as well. Since they are our travel partner, they're kind of a rivalry. We always seem to get their best game and it's so tough to win against them – especially there."
AU then goes back on the road for a two-match road swing at Wingate (Sept. 9) and its seventh game in 10 days at Coker (Sept. 10). The Trojans shared the 2021 SAC Regular Season Championship with both Tusculum and Wingate, which finished the season with a 24-5 mark and made its 16th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament before losing in four sets to top-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne in the NCAA Southeast Region Semifinals at the Abney Center.
"We're looking forward to playing Wingate," said Hay. "We have a lot of respect for their program and they always bring out the best. Four of the last five matches have gone five sets, so it'll be an emotional road trip, either way. And this will be our first visit to Hartsville since before the pandemic. They will be improved and it's tough anytime you play on the road in conference."
AU returns home on Sept. 14 to face Lenoir-Rhyne, which wrapped up last season with a 24-8 record after making its second trip in school history to the NCAA's Sweet 16 before falling to Augusta in the regional finals. Following a five-day layoff, the Trojans will play host to Newberry (Sept. 20) for the second time in two weeks.
The following weekend, the Trojans embark on perhaps their most challenging conference road swing of the campaign, when they visit Lincoln Memorial (Sept. 23) and Carson-Newman (Sept. 24). The Trojans have won five in a row and nine of the last 10 matchups with the Lady Railsplitters, with five of the last seven meetings going the full five-set distance. Carson-Newman wrapped up last season with an 18-14 record after being ousted from the SAC Tournament by eventual champion Lenoir-Rhyne.
"Lenoir-Rhyne will be tough as always," noted Hay. "They'll have a lot of returners and will be similar. LMU and Carson-Newman return nearly everyone and they'll be a year older and a year wiser and will be much improved."
Then going from feast to famine, the Trojans' schedule features just two matches over the next 11 days, with third-year conference-member Limestone visiting the Upstate on Sep. 30 and AU traveling to Newberry on Tuesday, Oct. 4. The Trojans then welcome a pair of western Virginia teams to the Abney Center, as first-year league member Emory & Henry, along with fourth-year SAC-member UVA Wise visit the Electric City, Oct. 7-8.
The Wasps, who began the transition from NCAA Division III and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) to Division II in 2021 closed out their 2021 campaign by winning seven of their last eight contests. AU and UVA Wise have met just four times, with the Black and Gold winning all four matchups. The Cavaliers will be seeking their first league victory since joining the SAC in 2019.
Another challenging road swing awaits the Trojans, as four of their last six conference matches will be on the road. They visit Mars Hill on Oct. 11 and Tusculum (Oct. 14). The Lions and Pioneers combined to win 41 matches a year ago and both squads made an appearance in the NCAA Southeast Region Championship at the Abney Center. The Lions finished seventh in the SAC regular-season standings with a 9-9 record, but went on to claim the seventh seed in the NCAA Regional, while Tusculum shared the SAC Regular Season Championship, alongside Wingate and Anderson, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013.
Behind reigning SAC Player of the Year, Emiah Burrowes, and AVCA Region Coach of the Year, Danielle Marante, the Pioneers will be looking for their seventh overall NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022.
The Trojans step out of conference action by playing host to Lander in a midweek matchup on Oct. 18 before traveling to Catawba three days later. The Bearcats broke even at 13-13 overall a year ago after falling to Flagler in the semifinals of the PBC Championship, with the mid-October matchup marking the first meeting between AU and LU since the 2018 NCAA Southeast Regional and just the fifth matchup since the 2012 season.
AU wraps up the regular season with a visit to Catawba (Oct. 21) before playing three matches in six days, with Wingate opening Homecoming Weekend on Oct. 28 and Coker at the Abney Center a day later. The Trojans close out the regular season at Lenoir-Rhyne on Wednesday, Nov. 2.
"The schedule gets much harder for us from mid-October through the first week of November," emphasized Hay. "How we finish is very important. With four of our last six on the road, we want to finish strong."
The 2022 South Atlantic Conference Championship will feature the top eight teams in the league (four from each division) squaring off on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at the home sites of the four top seeds, with the tournament semifinals and championship slated to be held on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 11-12, at the Rock Hill (S.C.) Sport and Events Center for the second consecutive year.
