Emory University's bid for a third straight University Athletic Association title fell short on Saturday as the No. 2-ranked Eagles came out on the short end of a five-set decision to No. 3 Washington University. The Bears upped their overall record to 32-1 following a come-from-behind victory (22-25, 16-25, 25-17, 25-20, 15-8) over Emory who slipped to 34-4 overall.
Wash U finished the contest with a .240 hitting percentage (62-18—183) compared to Emory's effort of .190 (58-22—189). The Bears held a slight 93-89 edge in digs while the Eagles enjoyed an 11-4 margin in total blocks. After being held to just a .157 attack percentage in the first two sets, Wash U picked up the pace in that department over the final three sets, posting a .292 attack percentage in contrast to Emory's .157.
Junior middle Breanah Bourque spearheaded the Emory offensive attack with a season-high 18 kills, her 20th match of double-figure terminations, and finished with a solid .405 hitting percentage (18-3—37). Senior Jessica McAlvany was the other Eagle to register double digits with 11 terminations. Junior Alex Duhl chipped in eight kills and was a formidable force at the net with 11 total blocks (1-10), tying for fourth on the school's match list. Sophomore Molly Landers established a school record with her 35 digs while senior Natalie Schonefeld dished out 47 assists while contributing 10 digs.
Facing a 12-14 deficit in the first set, Emory rattled off six straight points to take a four-point edge. After the Bears narrowed the gap to 17-19, Emory went won a 5-3 run, capped by a kill by McAlvany to take a 24-20 lead. Emory then closed out the set on a service error by Wash U.
Emory extended its lead in the match following the second set with the key stretch in that game a 10-3 Eagle spurt that extended a 9-7 lead into a 19-10 advantage. Both Bourque and junior Alena Ransom totaled three kills in the set that pushed the Eagles to within one game of the title. However, Wash U battled back to claim the third set, never trailing, though Emory did tie the game at 16-16 after falling behind by a 10-5 count earlier. However, the Bears closed out the set on a 9-1 run with Lauren Budd and Meghan Byrne each picking up two kills in that stretch. Budde would lead all players with 22 terminations while Byrne totaled 13 successful put-aways.
Emory regrouped in the fourth set and held leads of 13-10, 14-11 and 15-12, only to see its opponent knot things up at 16-16. With the game still deadlocked at 19-19, the Bears picked up two straight points before a kill by McAlvany drew Emory to within one point. After a sideout by each team, Wash U closed out the game and tied the match following a 4-0 run.
In the decisive fifth set, the Bears scored the first four points and built a 9-3 lead before a kills by Bourque and Schonefeld, combined with a Wash U attack error, narrowed the gap to 10-6. However, Emory fell further behind after three unanswered Wash U points that aided in the Bears eventually closing out the match.
Today's encounter marked the eighth straight year that the programs had met in the finals of the UAA Championships with each squad now winning on four occasions.
Head Coach Jenny McDowell and her team now wait to hear as to what awaits them in the upcoming NCAA D-III Championships with the pairings and sites being announced on Monday (Nov. 7) at 11:00 am on www.ncaa.com