The No. 5-ranked Emory volleyball team saw its season come to an end Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA D-III Championships.  The Eagles squared off against No. 2 Calvin College with the Knights prevailing in five sets (25-17, 19-25, 24-26, 25-21, 9-15).  Emory closes out the year at 33-6 while Calvin advances to the semifinals on Friday with a slate of 31-1.

Calvin ended the match hitting .249 (66-18—193) compared to Emory's .196 (58-23—179), just the fifth time this year the Eagles had their opposition outhit them.  Emory did finish with a 97-86 edge in digs while the Knights posted an 11-9 margin in total blocks.

Freshman Morgan McKnight led the Emory attack with a season-high 15 kills, her sixth double-figure effort of the campaign.  Senior Sarah Maher totaled 12 terminations and 18 digs, her seventh double-double of the season.  Senior Jessica Holler rounded out the double-digit terminators with 11 kills to go along with a .364 attack percentage and six (0-6) blocks.  Sophomore Becky Breuer led the Eagles with 31 digs while junior Hannah Billings and sophomore Mady Arles dished out 25 and 21 assists, respectively. 

SET 1 – Holding a 10-9 lead, Calvin goes on a 4-1 run to take a 14-10 advantage … A kill by McKnight, followed by a service ace by freshman Sara Carr, draws the Eagles to within two points … A Calvin hitting miscue narrows its lead to 16-15, but it rattles off  an 8-1 charge, with two kills coming by Laura Danhoff, to take command of the set … Danhoff registers seven terminations in the first set for Calvin … Emory hits -.083 (6-9—36) in the opening games while Calvin posts an attack mark of .243 (13-4—37).

SET 2 – Emory gets its offense untracked and hits .421 (18-2—38) in evening the match … McKnight, Maher and Holler all pound out five kills to fuel the Eagles …  Emory faces a 9-5 deficit before going on a 6-2 spurt that sees Maher come through with two kills … A kill by Calvin's Sarah DeVries gives it a 16-15 edge, but the Eagles score six of the next seven points, with Maher picking up two terminations and McKnight one, to claim a 21-17 advantage …  After a kill by Calvin, Emory uses three kills by Holler and one by McKnight to close out the set.

SET 3 – Emory takes a 2-1 lead in the match thanks to some stout defensive play that limits Calvin to a hitting percentage of .163 … Maher records five kills and McKnight chips in three successful attack attempts …  A 5-1 spurt pushes Emory to an 11-6 lead … After three straight Knight points, another 5-1 blitz highlighted by a McKnight kill and a Breuer ace stretches Emory to a 16-10 cushion … Calvin answers with a 6-1 charge that draws it to within one point … The match is tied, 19-19, before block assists by Sydney Leimbach and Mady Arles, followed by an ace by Carr, gives Emory a 21-19 lead Calvin scores the next three points before Emory counters with two, giving the Eagles a 23-22 edge … Two straight points by Calvin put the Eagles in a hole, 23-24, but the respond with terminations by Leimbach and Maher, followed by a Knight's hitting error, to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Set 4 – Calvin stays alive in the match, hitting .348 (17-1—46) … The Knights score 11 of the game's first 18 points and leads by a 16-12 count before kills by Leimbach and Karissa Dzurik allow Emory to draw to with two points …. After seeing Calvin account for three unanswered points, the Eagles claw back with a 4-0 run and trail by a 19-18 margin … Calvin boosts its advantage to 23-18 following a 4-0 burst that sees Keilahna Castillo dole out a pair of aces … McKnight comes through with a kill that narrows the Calvin lead to 23-20, but the Knights go on to force a fifth set with a 25-21 win.

Set 5 – Calvin hits .316 (8-2—19) in the decisive fifth set while Emory is held to .105 (6-4—19) … Anna Kamp leads the Knights with three kills while Leimbach and Holler each pick up two for Emory … Calvin jumps out to a 3-0 lead and extends it to 8-3 at the switch … Coming out of the switch, the Knight score three of the next four points to take an 11-4 lead … A kill by Maher draws Emory to 12-6, but Calvin scores the next two for a 14-6 advantage … The Eagles score three straight points with Leimbach registering a kill and Breuer an ace, but a kill by Calvin's Laura Danhoff, her 21^st of the match closes the match out.