ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson volleyball team will venture to the Volunteer State this weekend for South Atlantic Conference matchups against a pair of Mountain Division rivals – Lincoln Memorial and Carson-Newman – for the only regular-season meetings against the Lady Railsplitters and Lady Eagles on the slate this season.
First-serve at LMU is scheduled for Friday night at 7 p.m., while the Trojans and Lady Eagles will tangle Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m.
WHO: Anderson Trojans (10-3, 4-2 SAC) vs. Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters (5-9, 3-3 SAC)
WHERE: Mary Mars Gym; Harrogate, Tenn.
WHEN: Friday, 7 p.m.
WHO: Anderson Trojans (10-3, 4-2 SAC) vs. Carson-Newman Eagles (12-2, 5-1 SAC)
WHERE: Holt Fieldhouse; Jefferson City, Tenn.
WHEN: Saturday, 5 p.m.
COVERAGE
Live Stats: AUTROJANS.COM
Video: AUTROJANS.COM (Pay-Per-View)
The Trojans
Anderson (10-3, 4-2 SAC), which has sandwiched sweeps of Coker and Newberry around a four-set loss to Lenoir-Rhyne, is 4-2 away from the Abney Athletic Center this season and heads into the Cumberland Gap looking for its second true road victory of the season.
Behind junior Jaelyn Grimm's league-leading 1.29 blocks per set and with teammate Noelle Knutsen ranking fourth (1.07 blk/set), AU paces the SAC with 2.48 blocks per set and is second in the league with a .263 hitting percentage. Knutsen (.402) and sophomore Brantley Chipley (.400) are third and fourth, respectively in the SAC in attacking accuracy, while Grimm is just behind in seventh place with a .360 hitting percentage.
The Trojans have hit above .300 in every match this season, with the exception of the Montevallo and Lenoir-Rhyne matches and have also notched at least six total blocks in 10 contests this year.
With senior Madison Roy leading the conference with 10.66 assists per set and junior Jenna Long ranking third by handing out 9.71 assists per set, the Trojans are second in the league at 12.46 assists per set. The Black and Gold are third with 13.24 kills per set behind senior Liliana Kinder's 3.37 kills per set alongside Knutsen's 3.00 kills/set average.
Lincoln Memorial
The Railsplitters (5-9, 3-3 SAC), were a preseason pick to finish 10th in the South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, after posting a 9-19 overall record last season and finishing 11th in the SAC with a 5-13 mark in league action.
Friday night's contest will mark just Lincoln Memorial's fourth home match of the season, with the 'Splitters coming off a 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-17) loss two nights ago at Mountain Division-leading Mars Hill.
The Series vs. Lincoln Memorial
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.
The Trojans and Lady Railsplitters, who did not square off between 2003 and 2007, have met 30 times over the last 21 seasons, including 26 meetings since AU joined the South Atlantic Conference for the 2010 campaign.
LMU holds a 16-14 advantage in the overall series between the two schools, with Anderson snapping a nine-match skid at the hands of the Lady Railsplitters in the first meeting nine seasons ago and defeating LMU three times during the 2014 campaign, including a 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-13) decision in the opening round of the SAC Championship.
After LMU swept the 2015 and 2016 matchups, the Trojans returned the favor by blanking the 'Splitters twice in 2017 and then sweeping the 2018 regular-season matchups before LMU edged AU in five sets in the 2018 SAC Tournament semifinals.
The Trojans swept the 2019 regular-season series, with both contests going the full five-set distance. AU defeated Lincoln Memorial for the third straight time during the abbreviated spring campaign and has won nine of the last 10 matchups after defeating the Railsplitters twice last October.
Carson-Newman
The Eagles (12-2, 5-1 SAC), were a preseason pick to finish fifth in the South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, after posting an 18-14 overall record last season and finishing fifth in the SAC with an 11-7 mark.
Seniors Julia Wheeler and Abbey Hildenbrand each earned preseason all-conference accolades, with Wheeler claiming back-to-back South Atlantic Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors in early September.
After knocking off LMU in four sets on Sept. 6, the Eagles had won nine of their first 10 matches and were off to their best start since the 2007 campaign. Since then, C-N has won two straight (both sweeps) and three of its last four, while stumbling at Mars Hill.
The Eagles are set to host Newberry Friday night and are seeking their third consecutive home win of the season.
The Series vs. Carson-Newman
The Trojans and Eagles have met 31 times over the past 16 seasons, with 27 of the matchups occurring since AU joined the league in 2010. The overall series, which began in 2006, sees Anderson holding a 16-15 edge after the Trojans swept the 2019 regular-season series, before falling to the Eagles in the 2019 NCAA Regional Quarterfinals. AU knocked off C-N in both meetings during the spring, 2021 season, then the two teams split last year's regular-season matchups. AU has won 10 of the last 14 meetings, including two straight at Holt Fieldhouse.
Carson-Newman won the first five meetings in the overall series and the two teams have nearly evenly split the last 16 matchups, with AU sweeping the 2016 and 2017 regular-season matchups before Carson-Newman edged the Trojans in a five-set thriller in the 2017 South Atlantic Conference Tournament in Jefferson City, Tenn.
The two teams split the 2018 regular-season matchups, with each squad defending their home court. AU swept the 2019 regular-season series – both in five sets – with the Eagles blanking AU in the 2019 NCAA Southeast Regional Quarterfinals.
Following the two-match road swing, the Trojans' schedule features just two matches over the next 11 days, with third-year conference-member Limestone visiting the Upstate on Sep. 30, followed by a trip to Newberry on Tuesday, Oct. 4.
