The Emory Athletics weekly preview for April 17th to April 21st. This preview is to serve as a weekly snapshot of all upcoming athletic events for the coming week.
Men's Tennis:
The No. 3 ranked Emory men's tennis team (14-4) concluded its regular season this past weekend with a pair of matches. The Eagles split the weekend, narrowly falling to NAIA's third-ranked Tennessee Wesleyan before topping Washington & Lee at home on Senior Day. With the regular season in the rearview, the Eagles will shift their focus to the incredibly competitive UAA Championships in Altamonte Springs, Florida this weekend.
The UAA boasts three teams in the top-five of the national ITA rankings, with #2 Chicago and #4 Case Western Reserve joining Emory, while WashU comes in ranked as No. 12 in the country and Carnegie Mellon at No. 25.
The Eagles have playoff experience heading to Florida, having won the ITA Indoor Team National Championships back in February – with the championship clinching win coming against WashU.
The Eagles have received incredibly reliable play from freshman Christian Liew this spring, going 13-3 out of primarily the No. 4 and 5 singles position. He has also played exceptionally well on the doubles court, going 8-3 alongside senior Samuel Dean and 4-1 with graduate student Justin Waldman. Liew will head to Orlando with a four-game winning streak in his pocket.
Senior Ryan Glanville is entering the UAA Championships red hot, winning seven straight singles matches on court three. He is 10-3 this spring in singles play while adding an 11-5 record alongside senior Brandon Cohen in the No. 1 doubles position.
The Eagles are looking for their first UAA Championship trophy since 2019, having finished fourth in 2022 and third in 2023. The conference did not hold a championship event in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Emory has won 27 UAA Championships all time, with Head Coach John Browning being at the helm for 16 of them.
When/Where:
- Thursday, April 25th–Saturday, April 27th – UAA Championships – Sanlando Park (Altamonte Springs, FL)
- Quarterfinals: Thursday, April 25th – 8:30 AM
- Championship/Consolation Semifinals: Friday, April 26th – 12:30 PM
Coverage:
Women's Tennis:
Winners of nine straight matches, the No. 4 ranked Emory women's tennis team (12-3) will head to Florida for the UAA Championships this weekend. With a winning streak dating back to March 15th, the Eagles have plenty of momentum on their side heading to the loaded conference championships.
Four other ITA top-25 teams will join Emory in Florida, with #5 Chicago, #6 WashU, #9 Carnegie Mellon and #12 Case Western Reserve also receiving national recognition.
The Eagles had last week off from competition, having wrapped up their regular season earlier this month. Emory got off to a slow start this year, opening the year at 3-3 and finishing fifth at the ITA Team Indoor National Championships.
Senior Ilayda Baykan has played a pivotal role in the turnaround, having won eight straight singles matches, primarily on court three. Junior Eliza McPherron has embarked on a winning streak of her own as well, having won seven straight matches while playing primarily on court six.
Sophomore Emily Kantrovitz has been dominant out of the No. 1 singles position, winning 11 straight matches to start the year before dropping her final match of the regular season. The Eagles have received positive production from freshman Yanire Marte as well. The rookie is 10-1 this year on courts five and six.
Having finished as runner-up in the past two conference championships, the Eagles are looking for their first UAA banner since 2019. Head coach Bridget Disher won four UAA Championships as a player spanning from 2014 to 2018 and is searching for her first as the Head Coach for the Eagles.
When/Where:
- Friday, April 26th–Sunday, April 28th – UAA Championships – Sanlando Park (Altamonte Springs, FL)
Coverage:
Track and Field:
The Emory track and field teams will head to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this weekend to compete in the UAA Outdoor Championships, hosted by Carnegie Mellon. The Emory women finished third at the UAA Indoor Championships while the men finished second.
The Eagles have risen the national rankings this spring, with the women being ranked No. 9 in the nation and the men at No. 20.
The Eagles have experienced a successful spring season, with several program-record breaking performances on both the track and in field events this spring. Leading the way with these performances is senior Kenya Sei, breaking his own records on numerous occasions this spring. He set a new program-best in the hammer throw with a 57.60m distance at the Emory Spring Break Classic. Senior Dawit Dean has taken hold of a new school record as well, finishing at 1:49.29 in the 800m just a week ago. Most recently, senior Spencer Watry set a new program record this past weekend in the 1500m with a time of 3:49.47 this past weekend at the Georgia Tech Invitational.
Graduate student Nikki Boon has taken down her fair share of records as well this spring. Boon now holds the program record in the discuss (43.07m) and heptathlon (5,107 points) after transferring to Emory. Junior Madison Tiaffay has impressed as well, with the program best time of 4:57.09 in the mile run – breaking her previous best of 5:00.28 which she set earlier this year. Junior Audrey Johnson has been impressive as well this spring, boasting the top times this year in the 100m dash with a mark at 11.81 and 200m at 24.70.
The 2024 UAA Outdoor Championships will start on Saturday, April 27th and conclude on Sunday, April 28th. The event will be held at Gesling Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and hosted by Carnegie Mellon.
When/Where:
- Saturday, April 27th-Sunday, April 28th – UAA Outdoor Championships – Gesling Stadium (Pittsburgh, PA)
Coverage:
Baseball:
After having the weekend off, the Emory baseball team (19-14-1) will return to the diamond this week with a standalone game against Oglethorpe on Tuesday before welcoming Brandeis for a four-game set this weekend to close out the regular season.
The Eagles' most recent series saw them win take three of four against WashU and picking up a tie in the fourth game – the first in the UAA since 2008. Sophomore Josh Zuckerman turned in a stellar performance on the bump for the Eagles, going 7.2 innings with 14 strikeouts and allowing just one hit. He picked up his fourth win on the year and has a team-high 71 strikeouts in 49.0 innings of work this year. Senior Matthew Culbert has been a reliable arm out of the bullpen, with a team-best 3.55 ERA in 25.1 innings this year to go along with 27 punchouts.
Junior Blake Dincman has provided the Emory offense with a consistent spark at the plate this year, while playing reliable defense behind the dish. Dincman is hitting a team-high .421 with 14 doubles, four home runs and 30 RBI. Senior Jacob Grossman has been red-hot as of late and received national recognition when he was named to D3baseball.com's National Team of the Week earlier this month. Juniors Matthew Sicoli and Jack Halloran have slugged the most home runs on the team this year, with seven and six, respectively.
The Eagles will start their week with a game on Tuesday against the Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels. The two met earlier this year, with the Stormy Petrels pulling out a 10-9 win in Brookhaven. Oglethorpe is on a bit of a skid as of late, having lost seven of their last 10. Brick Conway is leading the Oglethorpe offense, batting .321 with 22 RBI. The Eagles are 58-22 all-time against the Stormy Petrels and have won six of the last seven.
The Brandeis Judges are currently on a four-game skid and are 5-26 this year. The Judges are searching for their first UAA win of the year this weekend when they visit Atlanta. Eddie Zanor has led the Judges at the plate this year, hitting .300 and stating all 31 games. He also has five home runs this year.
The Eagles have dominated their meetings with the Judges and have won 34-straight games against Brandeis. Emory made national news last year when the Eagles scored 62 runs in one day against Brandeis, scoring a UAA-record 31 runs in each game of a doubleheader. Emory will start the four-game set with one game on Friday and play a doubleheader on Saturday before concluding the series on Sunday. The series against Brandeis will conclude Emory's regular season. Prior to the first game on Saturday, the team will honor its eight-member graduating class.
When/Where:
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Tuesday, April 23rd – vs Oglethorpe – 3:00 PM – Chappell Park (Atlanta, GA)
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Friday, April 26th – vs Brandeis – 3:00 PM – Chappell Park (Atlanta, GA)
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Saturday, April 27th – vs Brandeis (DH) – 12:00 PM / 3:00 PM – Chappell Park (Atlanta, GA)
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Sunday, April 28th – vs Brandeis – 11:00 AM – Chappell Park (Atlanta, GA)
Coverage:
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Oglethorpe
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Brandeis
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Game 1
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Game 2
Softball:
The Emory softball team (23-13, 9-7 UAA) is coming off their first UAA sweep since 2019, taking all four games from NYU this past weekend. The Eagles will wrap up their regular season this weekend when they head to St. Louis, Missouri to take on WashU.
Emory is hot, riding a seven-game winning streak into St. Louis. The Eagles have received all-around efforts, with the bats heating up and the pitching staff stifling opposing offenses. Sophomore Mackenzie Duford was dominant this past weekend, going six innings with just two hits and no runs coming across in the Eagles' 8-0 win. She improved to 9-5 on the year and her ERA goes to 3.47 after the weekend.
Emory has plenty of players at the top of the UAA leaderboards, with three of the top-five batting averages belonging to Eagles. Sophomore Ashley Chu leads the way at .451, with senior Page Nellis right behind at .450 and sophomore Ella Hoyle at .429. Freshman Ellie Zerr also leads all UAA players this year with 10 home runs and 58 RBI. No other UAA player has driven in more than 40 runs this year, with Zerr holding a commanding lead in the category.
WashU is playing for a shot at the UAA title this weekend as they sit just one game back of #10 Case Western Reserve at 12-4 in conference play this spring. The Bears have won three straight at home and have won six of their last eight games, including a series win over CWRU. The Bears are among the best defensive teams in the nation, with a team fielding percentage of 0.973 to be ranked 11th in the nation. Their pitching staff has also been superb this season, with a cumulative ERA just north of 2.00.
The Bears' ace is Maria Brooks, who boasts a UAA-best 1.49 ERA this year while tossing eight complete games. Brooks is yet to give up a home run this year and is holding opposing teams to a .187 batting average. WashU also has the conference's top hitter, with Sydney Schneider hitting .455 this spring while starting in 29 games. She has nine doubles, three triples and two home runs for the Bears. Natalia Pilpil has also had a strong year, hitting .419 with five home runs.
Emory is 25-29 all-time against the Bears and are looking to pick up their first win in the series since 2022. The Eagles will get started with one game on Friday before playing a doubleheader on Saturday and wrapping up with a final game on Sunday.
When/Where:
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Friday, April 26th – at WashU – 4:00 PM – WashU Softball Field (St. Louis, MO)
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Saturday, April 27th – at WashU (DH) – 1:00 PM / 4:00 PM – WashU Softball Field (St. Louis, MO)
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Sunday, April 28th – at WashU – 12:00 PM – WashU Softball Field (St. Louis, MO)
Coverage:
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Game 1