ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson volleyball team took advantage of Carson-Newman miscues to defeat the Lady Eagles, 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-19) in South Atlantic Conference action Friday night at the Abney Athletic Center. 

Following  a five-day layoff, Anderson (5-8, 3-1 SAC) claimed its second straight victory and has won three of its last four outings, while Carson-Newman slipped to 5-6 overall and 0-5 in the league and has dropped three of its last four contests.

The Trojans grabbed a 10-4 lead in the first set, only to see the Lady Eagles post four straight points to trim AU's advantage to a pair. But Anderson countered with four unanswered points of its own to build another six-point edge and maintained the cushion before closing out the set with a 7-2 run. 

Anderson snapped a 5-5 tie in the second frame by reeling off six consecutive points and pushed out to a nine-point advantage midway through the set. Carson-Newman battled back within 24-20, but that was as close as the Lady Eagles would get.

The Trojans grabbed a quick double-digit lead at 12-1 in the third and final set before Carson-Newman rallied to within 16-13 on the strength of a 7-0 run. AU countered by scoring five of the next six points to rebuild the lead and went on to claim its third sweep of the season.  

Freshman Shannon Gillespie lead all players with 12 kills on the night, while adding 10 digs for her third double-double of the season. Middle blocker Hailey Pittman posted nine kills, while right-side hitter Kelley Lacey added seven kills and sophomore Joy Hiller notched seven kills as well. Freshman Meghan Cautero handed out a match-high 33 assists and freshman Kalie Endres recorded 13 digs. Junior Tiffany Rowe had five blocks on the night.

Senior Carly Swisher led the Lady Eagles with six kills and junior Rachel Bowlin came up with a match-high 14 digs.

Carson-Newman travels to Newberry on Saturday for a 1 p.m. SAC showdown.

(Courtesy Anderson Sports Information)