ANDERSON, S.C. -- Anderson moved to 20-5 on the season with a 3-0 win over Mars Hill University (10-13, 6-11 SAC) on Tuesday by scores of 25-16, 26-24 and 25-19. The Trojans are 15-2 in conference play and have secured the No. 2 seed in the SAC Tournament.
"Offensively speaking it was a great night," head coach
Todd Hay said. "Our hitters put up some big numbers and our team percentage was outstanding. However, we need to be a little stronger in our serve receive game if we want to take our overall play to another level. We know we can. It's now just a case of believing in ourselves and making it happen."
As a team, the Trojan offense came up with their second-highest clip of the season with a .410. They had 54 kills.
Junior
Ava Reeves (Lexington, S.C.) led the way for the Trojans with 14 kills and a .440 clip.
Freshman
Mikaylah Hedlund (Fountain Inn, S.C.) had her best performance in recent weeks with 13 kills on a .423 hitting percentage.
Sophomore
Mia Elder (Leland, N.C.) added another 13 kills and was also efficient with a .417 clip.
Junior
Emily Campbell (Statesville, N.C.) tacked on nine kills, hitting .571 with a team-high two blocks.
Senior
Katy Smith (Fleming Island, Fla.) led the defense with 12 digs.
Junior
Ellie Nieporte (Boca Raton, Fla.) dished out 42 assists with 10 digs for a double-double.
The Trojans came out on a 9-1 tear to force a Mars Hill timeout. The Lions gained some momentum in a 6-1 run at 16-11 but the Trojans took a comfortable 25-16 win. Hedlund came up with seven kills in the first set with no errors. Reeves added five while the team hit at a .483 hitting percentage.
Set two started similarly on an 8-2 run for the Trojans. The Lions went on another 6-1 run to get as close as they had gotten at 9-8. The Lions kept things rolling to take an 18-16 lead and force an Anderson timeout.
The Trojans had to fight for it, going down 24-22 and rallying for the 26-24 win. Hedlund and Reeves had five kills each while Campbell added six.
The Trojans were dominant again in the third set, led by Elder who had seven of her 13 kills.
The Trojans host No. 17 Wingate University on Friday night in the regular season finale. The Bulldogs are undefeated in the SAC and have already secured the regular season title. Wingate took the first meeting between the two teams 3-1.
"Should be a lot of fun on Friday when it's No. 1 vs. No. 2," Hay said. "Hope we have a packed gym."
