The Emory volleyball team returns to action on Sunday (Oct. 22) when it travels to the campus of Birmingham Southern for a pair of South Region matches. The Eagles open the day with a 1:30 pm (CDT) match against Hendrix College, followed by a 4:00 pm encounter against the host Panthers of BSC.
Emory begins the weekend as the No. 10-ranked D-III program in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 Poll.
Emory, ranked No. 2 in the South Region, checks into Sunday's doubleheader with an overall record of 19-5. The Eagles are coming off a 2-2 record at last weekend's University Athletic Association Round Robin II that saw them sweep Case Western Reserve and New York University while coming out on the short end of five-set decisions to No. 10 Carnegie Mellon and No. 20 Washington University.
With Emory minus the services of junior Sydney Leimbach and freshman Maggie Rimmel, sophomore Sara Carr (Birmingham AL) rose to the occasion and came through with a big weekend, leading the squad in both kills average (4.5 kps) and attack percentage (.349). In addition, Carr ranked second on the squad in digs average (3.75 dps) and tied for the team lead with six service aces. She finished with double-figure kills in all four matches and rang up 22 and 20 terminations against Carnegie Mellon and Wash U, respectively. Carr's performance enable to move into seventh place on the league ladder in kills average (3.07 kps), with her .278 hitting mark (233-61—618) good for the No. 9 spot.
Sophomore Morgan McKnight (Manassas, VA) put together three outings of 10 or more kills including a career-high 16 in the sweep over CWRU, a match that saw her hit a season-high .484 (16-1—31). So far this year, McKnight has posted a team-best 14 matches of double-figure terminations and her team-leading average of 3.09 kills per set slots her sixth among UAA performers.
Sophomore libero Elyse Thompson (Tallahassee, FL) continues to lead the club in digs with her 4.95 per-set average placing her third on the league list. Thompson has chalked up 19 matches of double-figure digs this season and her 30-digs performance against Carnegie Mellon represented the third time this year that she had reached or surpassed that number.
Through 24 matches, Emory posts a .237 (1161-428—3087) hitting percentage and has held the opposition to a mark of .135 (833-438—2923). The Eagles have doled out 171 service aces, led by Thompson's 38, compared to 80 for their opponents. In the digs department, Emory holds a 17.39-15.64 per-set advantage.
First-year head coach Haven O'Quinn has guided Birmingham Southern to 14-5 record. The Panthers, ranked No. 5 in the South Region, will host Rhodes on Saturday before tangling with both Hendrix and Emory the following day.
Hendrix headed into an Oct. 21 home affair against Millsaps the owners of an overall record of 9-14. Angie Boldt is in her second season directing the fortunes of the Warriors' program and has compiled a school record of 34-22.