ANDERSON, S.C. – Anderson volleyball (7-2, 1-0 SAC) opened South Atlantic Conference (SAC) play against Carson-Newman University (8-2, 1-1 SAC) in its home opener on Friday night. The Trojans faced a four-set battle (25-20, 25-23, 21-25, 25-12) to earn its first conference win of the 2026 campaign.
Anderson and Carson-Newman battled back and forth throughout the opening set, but the Trojans pulled away for a 25-20 win before never relinquishing the lead in the second set for a 25-23 victory. Despite Anderson building a lead of as many as seven points, the Eagles rallied to take the third set, 25-21. The Trojans responded with a dominant 25-12 fourth-set win to claim the conference-opening match.
Senior Ava Reeves (Lexington, S.C.) led Anderson with a season-high 22 kills on a .475 hitting percentage with three service aces. Senior Emily Campbell (Statesville, N.C.) followed with 14 kills while hitting .632, while senior Karley Black (Leander, Texas) recorded nine kills.
Senior Ellie Nieporte (Boca Raton, Fla.) directed the Anderson offense with 42 assists and added seven digs. Sophomore Jamie Juhnevicz (Taylors, S.C.) paced the defense with 13 digs, while sophomore Kaleigh Garren (Anderson, S.C.) added nine. Anderson finished with 52 kills while hitting .273 as a team.
"It was good to be home and our fans gave us great support," said head coach
Todd Hay. "Overall, we played pretty well except for the collapse in set three. However, we were able to bounce back and mentally regroup in set four, so that was good. I'm certainly glad we were able to start the conference slate with a win and look forward to tomorrow against LMU."
The Trojans close out its home opening weekend with another SAC matchup against Lincoln Memorial University tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 12 at 3:00 p.m.
