HARTSVILLE, S.C. - Behind its second-highest hitting percentage of the season, the Anderson University volleyball team outpaced Coker, 3-1 (25-18, 25-14, 23-25, 25-14) in South Atlantic Conference action Saturday afternoon at the DeLoach Center.

"We definitely took some steps forward this weekend," said Anderson head coach Craig Mosqueda. "Sets two and three we were competitive with Wingate and I feel good that we can continue to close that gap. Today, at Coker, we played well in sets one, two and four, but played probably our worst set of the year in set three. Fortunately we have a week to work some bugs out and prepare for our last five matches."

Anderson (19-6, 12-5 SAC) posted a .389 hitting percentage on the season and swept the season series with the win and maintained its hold on third place in the conference standings, while Coker fell to 4-20 overall on the season and 1-16 in the league with its third consecutive setback.

With her third dig of the opening set, senior Alix Hooker eclipsed former Trojan standout Maggie Irvin (2002-05) and now owns the school record for career digs. With her 16 digs in the victory, the Plant City, Fla. native now has 2,010 career digs. Reigning SAC Player of the Week, Hailey Pittman, led all players with 28 kills on the afternoon, while adding five digs and three block assists. Senior outside hitter Shannon Gillespie posted 14 kills and a match-best 20 digs for her sixth double-double of the season and fourth in the last five matches. Freshman Kendall Vallancourt and sophomore Tinsley Hallman each tallied seven kills and six digs. Vallancourt also added three service aces and has recorded nine in the last three matches. Sophomore Priscilla Irizarry handed out a career-high 56 assists and chipped in 10 digs for her 12th double-double effort of the season.

Celia Duggan led the Cobras with 13 kills, while Elisabeth Merrifield added nine kills and six digs. The trio of Rachel Waters, Megan Hardy and Samantha Celek headed the defense with 19, 12 and 10 digs, respectively. Christen Bragg paced the offense with 43 assists and four service aces.

The Trojans jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead and never trailed in the opening set, pushing out to their largest lead of the set, at 15-8. The Cobras trimmed AU's lead to just three on four occasions, but would get no closer as the Trojans turned away the Cobras each time. Leading 20-17, AU rattled off a 5-1 run to claim the set. Pittman sparked the surge with a pair of kills, while Gillespie added a kill and Pittman closed the frame with her eighth kill.

Anderson snapped the seventh tie of the second set with a 5-1 outburst to take control of the frame, as Pittman knocked down back-to-back kills and the Trojans capitalized on a pair of Cobra errors to give AU a 13-9 lead. Leading by three, at 14-11, the Trojans closed the set with an 11-3 surge.

Coker countered by scoring the first nine points of the third set and the Trojans were never able to recover. AU cut the deficit to just two points five times and just one point twice, but was unable to overtake the Cobras, as the home team held on for the two-point win.

The Trojans hit .486 in the fourth set, as the squad posted 18 kills, while committing just one attack error in 35 attempts. Anderson built an early 8-1 cushion and never looked back. Coker climbed within 14-10 but the Trojans answered with five straight points to put the set out of reach.

Anderson closes out its home slate with a two-match homestand, beginning with Catawba on Friday at 7 p.m. and finishing with Senior Day versus Queens at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Abney Athletic Center.