ANDERSON, S.C. - Paced by seniors Hailey Pittman and Shannon Gillespie, Anderson celebrated Senior Day by shutting out Queens University, 3-0 (25-10, 25-20, 25-22) in South Atlantic Conference volleyball action Saturday afternoon at the Abney Athletic Center.

"This was a great win for the team and what a wonderful celebration for our seniors," said Anderson head coach Craig Mosqueda. "I am very proud of the way the team came out and fought and how focused and poised they were. We knew going into this match that we had to be a family and we have been working on our chemistry and improving our level of play. It definitely paid off tonight. Queens is a very talented team and again, this is a great win."

Anderson (21-6, 14-5 SAC) avenged an earlier loss to the Royals with its eighth win in the last nine outings, while Queens fell to 6-22 overall and 3-16 in the conference with its fifth straight loss.

Pittman lead all players with 13 kills on a .579 hitting percentage, while adding five kills and a pair of block assists. Gillespie tallied 12 kills, three service aces and nine digs, while sophomore Tinsley Hallman chipped in five kills. Freshmen Kendall Vallancourt and Marissa Mitter each posted four kills. Sophomore Priscilla Irizarry handed out 37 assists and came up with four digs, with senior defensive specialist Alix Hooker recording a match-high 24 digs.

Meredith Jones led the Royals with eight kills, while junior middle hitter Elizabeth Bialkowski recorded seven kills. Sophomore defensive specialist Megan Mancini tallied a team-high 18 digs.

The Trojans jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead in the opening set, with Pittman knocking down three kills in the opening moments to force an early Queens' timeout. Following the break, Bialkowski recorded a kill, but Gillespie answered with three consecutive kills and followed an AU miscue with another kill to give the Trojans a 10-3 advantage. Anderson built a double-digit lead on a kill by senior Sarah Eckert, maintained the cushion, and closed the set by scoring the final four points of the frame for the win.

The second set saw Anderson break away from an early 5-5 deadlock by scoring five unanswered points as part of a 7-1 surge. Pittman ignited the run with a kill and Gillespie fueled the outburst with back-to-back kills. AU steadily built a 17-10 advantage, but the Royals chipped away and trimmed the Trojan lead to just 20-17 before Gillespie countered with a kill and an ace, while Vallancourt notched a kill to give Anderson some additional breathing room, at 23-18. Following a serve error, Bialkowski sandwiched a pair of kills around a Vallancourt score to pull the Royals within 24-20. But the Trojans claimed the final point of the set on a Queens' error.

Trailing, 12-9, in the third frame, the Trojans rattled off six unanswered points to turn the three-point deficit into a 15-12 lead and would not trail the rest of the way. Gillespie added two service aces during the decisive run, with AU opening an 18-13 lead. However, the Royals responded by cutting AU's lead to just two on two occasions before getting as close as 22-21. After Gillespie and Jones traded kills, the Trojans claimed the set and match on back-to-back attack errors by the Royals.

Anderson closes out the regular season with three consecutive road contests, beginning with Newberry on Tuesday. First-serve versus the Wolves is set for 7 p.m. at Eleazer Arena.