The No. 5-ranked Emory volleyball team opened NCAA D-III Tournament play on Friday with a victory over the College of New Rochelle. Competing at the Brockport, New York Regional, the Eagles raised their overall record to 31-5 following a 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-11) decision over the Blue Angels who closed out their season with a slate of 21-10).
Emory enjoyed a decided edge in attack percentage, finishing with a mark of .290 (40-13—93) compared to CNR's .050 (24-19—101). The Eagles also recorded a 47-33 margin in digs and held a 5-2 advantage in total blocks.
Senior Jessica Holler and freshman Morgan McKnight highlighted the offensive attack with each player tying for the team lead with nine kills. Holler hit a keen .538 (9-2—13) and added three blocks while McKnight finished with a hitting effort of .348 (9-1—23). Sophomore Sydney Leimbach chipped in eight terminations and two blocks. Sophomore Mady Arles and junior Hannah Billings dished out 19 and 13 assists, respectively, and freshman Sara Carr contributed three service aces and six digs.
Set 1 - In what proves to be the most competitive set of the match, Emory hits .205 (14-6—39) vs. CNR's .162 (11-5—37) … Holler and Leimbach chalk up five and four kills, respectively while sophomore Mira Grinsfelder accounts for four of her team-high nine digs … The Blue Angels hold a 6-4 advantage before Emory rattles off a 7-1 run to take an 11-7 lead … The Eagles claim a three-point edge, 14-11, before scoring four of the game's next five points, to take an 18-13 lead … A pair of terminations by Leimbach eventually give Emory a 23-16 margin … After a pair of CNR points, Emory picks up the final two scores of the set, the last one coming on a kill by senior Sarah Maher, to take a 1-0 match lead.
Set 2 – Emory stifles the Blue Angels, limiting them to a -,125 hitting percentage … Morgan McKnight pounds out five kills in the set while senior Kathryn Trinka adds three … A kill by McKnight, an ace by sophomore Becky Breuer and a block solo by Holler are the highlights of a 6-0 charge that stakes the Eagles to a 7-3 lead … A kill by Trinka propels Emory to a 14-7 cushion, but CNR scraps back with four unanswered points to slice the Eagles' lead to three points … A pair of terminations by Maher fuel a 4-0 spurt to boost Emory to an 18-11 advantage … After a CNR point, Emory goes on a 5-0 run to bolt to an 11-point lead … McKnight closes out the set with a pair of kills.
Set 3 – The Eagles close out the match hitting a blazing .591 (14-1—22) … Holler totals four kills to head up the offensive attack … Holler picks up three terminations in helping Emory to a 7-1 lead … Up by a 9-5 count, Emory puts the pressure on the Blue Angels with an 8-2 blitz that stretches its advantage to 17-7 … A McKnight kill, an ace by Carr and a kill by Holler pushes Emory to a 24-10 bulge …
Emory moves into Saturday's semifinals where it will meet up with Clarkson University (22-14) in a 2:30 pm scheduled start.