The Emory volleyball team returns to the Woodruff PE Center this week (Sept. 6-8) when it hosts the Emory National Tournament. Joining the Eagles will be Transylvania, Tufts, Berry, Oglethorpe, Otterbein and Whitworth.
A schedule of the matches is as follows:
Thursday, Sept. 6
7:00 pm – Emory vs. Transylvania
Friday, Sept. 7
11:30 am – Tufts vs. Oglethorpe (Court 1)
2:00 pm – Transylvania vs. Oglethorpe (Court 1)
2:00 pm – Otterbein vs. Tufts (Court 2)
4:30 pm – Emory vs. Otterbein (Court 1)
4:30 pm – Berry vs. Whitworth (Court 2)
7:00 pm – Emory vs. Berry (Court 1)
7:00 pm – Whitworth vs. Transylvania (Court 2)
Saturday, Sept. 8
11:00 am – Otterbein vs. Whitworth (Court 1)
11:00 am – Berry vs. Tufts (Court 2)
1:30 pm – Emory vs. Whitworth (Court 1)
1:30 pm – Otterbein vs. Transylvania (Court 2)
4:00 pm – Emory vs. Tufts (Court 1)
4:00 pm – Oglethorpe vs. Whitworth (Court 2)
Emory began the week as the No. 8 D-III program in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Preseason Poll.
THE COACHES - Emory head coach Jenny McDowell (Georgia, '89) is in her 23rd year at the helm of the Eagles' program and claims a school and career mark of 717-161. She has 19 campaigns of 30 or more wins, including last year's slate of 30-7, and has directed the program to 22 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament. She has steered the Eagles to five berths to the national semifinals and has a national championship to her credit in 2008.
Amy Barmore (Georgetown College, '11) is in her initial season as the head coach of the Transylvania program. Appointed this past February, Barmore had spent the previous four campaigns as an assistant with the Pioneers.
In her 12th year of calling the shots for Otterbein is head coach Monica Brown (Wittenberg, '05).
Entering the weekend, Brown has compiled a career slate of 221-138, which includes a 30-4 mark in 2017, a campaign that saw the Cardinals advance to the NCAA D-III Tournament.
Berry Head Coach Caitlyn Moriarty (Christopher Newport, '11) checks in with school and career record of 55-18. In 2017, Moriarty was tabbed as the AVCA South Region Coach of the Year after directing the Vikings to an overall ledger of 30-7. Berry earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the Round of 16 where it fell to Emory.
Now in her fifth year in directing the fortunes of the Whitworth University program, Kati Bodecker stands 80-33. She has seen the Pirates capture three Northwest Conference titles and three spots in the NCAA Tournament.
Cora Thompson (Tufts, '99) has enjoyed considerable success during her 16-year run as head coach of the Tufts program. At the start of the weekend, Thompson has amassed a career record of 351-121. She was named the AVCA 2017 Northeast Region Coach of the Year after leading the Jumbos to a spot in the NCAA Tournament, finishing the year with a won-lost effort of 23-7.
SERIES RECORDS – Emory stands 4-0 all-time vs. Transylvania. The two schools faced off last year at the Transylvania Invitational with the Eagles posting a 3-0 decision.
Emory has won 17 of the 18 confrontations against Berry. After Berry snapped a 15-match losing streak to the Eagles in the first of three meetings last year, Emory captured the final two match-ups including a 3-0 outcome in the NCAA Atlanta Regional title contest.
Emory has won both matches against Tufts, with Saturday's affair the first time the schools have squared off since 2010.
Emory will be playing both Otterbein and Whitworth for the first time.
RECORDS – Emory stands 2-1 after hosting its Classic last weekend. The Eagles opened with a sweep of Whittier last Friday before dropping a 3-1 verdict to No. 13 Illinois Wesleyan in their opener on Saturday. The team then bounced back to record a 3-0 triumph over Covenant College.
The Pioneers will visit the Woodruff PE Center with a deceptive 0-3 slate after hosting the Transylvania Invitational, losing 3-1 outcomes to No. 10 Washington University, Hope College and No. 25 Berry.
The Cardinals of Otterbein won three of four matches last weekend at the Capital/Otterbein Fall Classic, topping Hanover, 3-2, before losing to No. 4 Wittenberg, 3-0, on Friday and topping both Washington and Jefferson and Washington and Lee by 3-1 counts the following day.
Berry, which maintained its No. 25 national ranking in this week's AVCA Top 25 Poll, comes to town with a 2-1 mark. The Vikings played at the Transylvania Invitational last weekend, losing their opener to Hope College, 3-0, before defeating No. 10 Washington University (3-2) and Transylvania, 3-1.
Whitworth has gotten off to a good start, winning all four of its encounters at the Oregon Trail Classic in Newberg, Oregon. The Pirates manufactured a pair of 3-1 wins over UC-Santa Cruz and Elmhurst before sweeping New Rochelle and Johnson and Wales (CO).
McKNIGHT & SAUNDERS CAPTURE All-TOURNEY HONORS – Junior Morgan McKnight and sophomore Leah Saunders were the Eagle representatives on the Emory Classic All-Tournament Team. McKnight saw action in eight of 10 sets over the weekend and averaged a squad-best 4.75 kills per game while registering a keen .363 hitting percentage (38-9--80).
McKnight led all players with a career-high 17 kills as Emory topped Whittier, 3-0, in the season opener, closing out the match hitting .433 (17-4--30) while adding six digs. She tied that mark the following day in the four-set battle vs. Illinois Wesleyan, posting a hitting mark of .295 (17-4--44) and chipping in four digs.
Saunders also played in eight sets and placed No. 2 on the team with an average of 2.88 kills per game. In the victory over Whitter, she was second on the club with 13 digs and nine digs.
NOTES – Senior setter Mady Arles turned in back-to-back matches with career highs in assists, doling out 41 in against Whittier before bettering that mark with 42 against Illinois Wesleyan … Junior Elyse Thompson totaled 49 digs while playing in all 10 sets, boosting her career total to 824 … Thompson is 50 digs shy of moving into the program's all-time top 20 in that category … The Eagles enjoyed an advantage in hitting percentage in all three matches last weekend, finishing with a .314 effort vs. .141 for the opposition … Senior Karissa Dzurik's 13 terminations in the Illinois Wesleyan match represented her 24th career outing with 10 or more kills.
EMORY CAPTAINS – Serving as the captains for the 2018 Emory volleyball team will be seniors Mady Arles Sydney Leimbach and Mila Barzdukas (Studio City, CA).
EMORY ENJOYS SUCCESS ON HOME FLOOR – The Eagles have enjoyed considerable success over the years playing at the Woodruff PE Center compiling a home won-lost slate of 373-55 (.872) since 1992.
More recently, Emory has been dominant at the Woodpec, compiling a 44-5 record at home since the 2015 campaign. In 2017, the Eagles were successful in 17 of 18 home matches.