ANDERSON, S.C. – Behind a season-high .317 hitting percentage, the Anderson volleyball team opened a six-match South Atlantic Conference homestand by blanking Tusculum, 3-0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-13) Friday night at the Abney Athletic Center.
"I was very proud of our overall performance tonight," said Anderson head coach Todd Hay. "We were solid in all four phases of the match - serving, passing, defense and offense. Tusculum is a very solid team and very well coached. It was just a night that saw us play one of our best matches of the year."
Not quite to the midway point of the conference season, the Trojans are second in the SAC standings behind league-leading and unbeaten Wingate, while Tusculum held the third spot entering Friday night's contest.
Anderson (13-3, 7-1 SAC) equaled the 1998 Trojan squad for the third-longest win streak in school history with its eighth straight victory, while earning its third consecutive win and the fifth victory in six meetings with the Pioneers. Tusculum (10-6, 7-4 SAC) saw its win streak halted at five.
"Emily [Conlin] did a great job of setting a balanced offense and our servers really stepped up and kept their offense out of system a good portion of the match," added Hay. "Mars Hill comes in on a hot streak and really had a convincing win at Lenoir-Rhyne. We will need another performance like tonight to continue our run."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Sophomore outside hitter Kathryn Hughes led all players by equaling her career high with 15 kills on the strength of a .480 hitting percentage and added three total blocks. Senior middle blocker Rachel Burts tallied eight kills on a .400 hitting percentage and came up with three total blocks, while senior Marissa Mitter, the reigning SAC Player of the Week, posted eight kills and resorded 13 digs on the night. Conlin handed out 31 assists and recorded seven digs, with
junior libero Emily Conard notching a match-high 14 digs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
The Trojans scored the first three points of the frame, and shortly thereafter Hughes' second kill of the night snapped a 5-5 deadlock and gave AU a lead it would not surrender.
With AU holding a tenuous 8-7 advantage, junior Jayln Knight sparked three unanswered points by the Trojans as part of what turned into a 10-3 scoring outburst. Mitter posted three kills during the decisive run, as AU went on to the double-digit win.
Second Set
The second frame was tied just once - at one apiece, before the Trojans exploded out to a 15-4 lead, as Hughes led the way with all four of her second-set kills coming during the surge.
The Pioneers countered with five straight points of their own to trim AU's lead to six, but Tusculum would get no closer as the Trojans answered with a 6-2 outburst to build a double-digit cushion, at 21-11, on a kill by Burts.
Third Set
AU jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead and never looked back. Tusculum climbed within three on three occasions, but the Trojans thwarted any attempts to rally and put together an 8-2 run that turned a three-point edge into a 17-8 cushion.
After claiming a 19-9 lead, the Trojans held at least a double-digit advantage the rest of the way.
ANDERSON STAT OF THE NIGHT
The Trojans held Tusculum to a -.041 hitting percentage.
NOTES
• With a win on Saturday, the Trojans would claim their ninth straight victory and equal the 2002 team for the second-longest win streak in program history.
• In the latest NCAA rankings, the Trojans are 12th in the nation by holding opponents to a .114 hitting percentage and rank 21st nationally with 12.98 assists per set.
• Mitter, the reigning SAC Player of the Week, leads the league in kills and is second in kills per set.
• Mitter has 1,048 career kills and passed Trojan standout Shaunte' Heyward (2003-06) for 10th place in the school record books.
• Mitter needs 29 kills to surpass Michelle Yarborough (1999-2002) for ninth place.
• Jackson is in 11th place in the AU record books with 181 career blocks and needs 41 total blocks to overtake Ashley Prince (2006-08) for 10th place.
• Burts is 13th in the AU record books with 167 career blocks and needs 11 to surpass Betsy Fisher (2000-04) for 12th place.
UP NEXT
Anderson will get back on the court Saturday, when the Trojans play host to Mars Hill. First-serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Abney Center.
