TOURNAMENT FACTS  - The Emory volleyball team plays its final regular-season home matches of the 2009 season this Friday and Saturday (Oct. 30-31) when it hosts the Emory Halloween Tournament.  The Eagles open play with a 4:30 p.m. contest against LaGrange College before meeting Berry College in a 7:00 p.m. start.  The outing against the Vikings of Berry will be Senior Night with the trio of Kaitlin Westfall, Vista Murphy and Alysse Meyer being recognized for their contributions to the program.

On Saturday, Emory will take on Randolph Macon (1:00 p.m.) and Birmingham Southern (3:30 p.m.).

Emory will webcast its matches against Berry College on Friday evening and Birmingham Southern on Saturday.  Providing the play-by-play will be Mike Lyle.  To access the webcast, go to www.emoryathletics.com.

THE COACHES - Emory Head Coach Jenny McDowell (Georgia, '89) is in her 14th year at the helm of the Eagles' program.  During her stint at Emory, McDowell has posted a school and career won-lost ledger of 432-117.  She has 11 campaigns of 30 or more wins and has directed the program to 14 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament.  She guided Emory to its first-ever national title in 2008 and was named as the AVCA National Coach of the Year.

LaGrange College is led by Julie Moses (Marietta College) who is in her second year of calling the shots for the Panthers' program. 

Mika Robinson (Harvard) is in her second campaign as the head coach at Berry College.  Heading into a Tuesday night match against Breneau University, Robinson had manufactured a school record of 31-24.  Last year, she guided the program to an overall slate of 23-13 and was named the Southern States Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.

Leading the Randolph-Macon program is eighth-year head coach Bill Rogers (Virginia Commonwealth, '90).  Rogers has enjoyed considerable success at RMC and will take a school record of 162-81 into the weekend.  In 2008, Rogers saw his Yellow Jackets finish with a 24-8 won-lost ledger.

April Fricke (St. Mary's (TX) '95) was appointed head coach of the Birmingham Southern program in April of 2009.  Prior to her current post, she had served as an assistant coach at Trinity University for four years.

RECORDS - Emory, ranked No. 4 nationally among Division III teams, enters the Halloween Tournament with an overall record of 26-5.   The Eagles have won their last five matches including a pair of 3-1 decisions against Lee University and USC-Aiken last Thursday (Oct. 22).   Emory stands 15-1 on its home floor this season.

LaGrange checks in with an overall mark of 5-21.  The Panthers will be looking to shake a six-match losing streak when it meets Emory on Friday.

Berry College stood 10-12 heading into its Tuesday affair with Breneau University.  The Vikings played Southern Wesleyan last Saturday and came out on the short end of a 3-2 decision.

Birmingham Southern posts a 14-15 record following a 2-2 record last weekend at the SCAC East/Central #2 Tournament. 

SERIES RECORDS - Emory holds a 5-0 edge in the series with LaGrange.  The teams met earlier this season (Sept. 18) with the Eagles notching a 3-0 win.

Emory was won all three of its encounters with Berry.  The last meeting was the 2008 season opener with Emory prevailing by a 3-2 count.

The Eagles stand 4-0 all-time against Randolph-Macon.  The last meeting between the Eagles and Yellow Jackets took place in 2007 with Emory claiming a 3-0 triumph.

Birmingham Southern was won the last four matches and enjoys a 4-2 advantage in the all-time series against Emory.  The Panthers captured both meetings last year.

EMORY TOUGH AT THE WOODPEC - Emory has proved to be a tough opponent on its home court at the Woodruff PE Center.  Since 1992, the Eagles have compiled an overall record of 249-45, good for an 84.7 winning percentage.  Since the 2004 campaign, Coach McDowell has seen her club fashion a classy 89-13 slate (.872).  Over the last two years, Emory claims a mark of 26-2 (.928) in home matches.

McALVANY NAMED UAA CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK --  Sophomore Jessica McAlvany was named the UAA Co-Player of the Week after helping the Eagles to a pair of wins last Thursday (Oct. 22).  It marks the second time this season that she has earned the honor.

The 6-foot McAlvany hit 34.4 percent, while posting a team-high 14 kills, and contributed 16 digs (second high on the squad), in a 3-1 triumph over Lee University.  In a 3-1 verdict over Division II member USC-Aiken, McAlvany blasted away for a match-high 15 terminations and chipped in seven digs as Emory ran it overall slate to 26-5. 

All totaled, she played in all eight sets and chalked up a 27.9 attack percentage (29-10-68) and averaged 2.87 digs per set. She also finished with three service aces and four (3-1) total blocks.

NUMBERS TO WATCH - Sophomore Amelia McCall's 11 terminations against USC-Aiken represented her fifth match of 10 or more kills this seasons ... Senior Vista Murphy's season-high 19 digs in the USC-Aiken contest was her second-highest total during her Emory career ...  Murphy is 15^th on the school's all-time chart with 723 digs.
Heading into Friday, Alysse Meyer has 1,549 career terminations to her credit, good for third place on the school's all-time list ... She is 33 shy of tying Alicia Moore (1994-97) for second place ...  Meyer has 12 performances of double digits in kills this year ... Sophomore Natalie Schonefeld has 1,107 assists to her credit this season, good for 15^th place on the school's chart ... Junior Kelsey Krzyston registered 10 digs against Lee University, her fourth performance of double figures in 2009 ... McAlvany has 15 matches of double-figure kills this year.

ON THE HORIZON - Following the Emory Halloween Tournament, the Eagles will travel to Chicago to participate in the UAA Championships, Nov. 6-7.

EAGLES TRIO TO SERVE AS CAPTAINS - Serving as captains for the 2009 Eagles are senior Vista Murphy (Laguna Beach, CA), Natalie Schonefeld (Riveria, TX) and junior Amelia McCall (Montgomery, AL).