Stats
In a battle of heavyweight Division III programs, the No. 6-ranked Emory volleyball team came out on the short end of a 3-1 decision to No. 3 Wittenberg University in a Senior Night match played at the Woodruff PE Center. The Tigers of Wittenberg upped their overall record to 21-4 following an intense 25-13, 25-21, 18-25, 25-23) decision over the Eagles who slipped to 27-5. Friday's action was the first day of the Emory National Invitational.
Emory concluded the evening hitting .181 (50-19—171) compared to WU's effort of .226 (63-23—177). The Tigers enjoyed an 87-70 advantage in digs while the Eagles posted an 8-4 edge in total blocks.
Senior Breanah Bourque led the Emory offensive effort with 13 kills, her 12th straight and 24th effort of the campaign with 10 or more terminations, while sophomore Cami Silverman was the other Eagle to register double digits in that category with 10 successful attack attempts. Silverman also totaled 12 digs in chalking up her seventh double-double (kills/digs) of the year. Senior Alex Duhl came through with eight kills and contributed a season-high seven blocks (1-6) in the effort. Freshman setter Sydney Miles dished out 35 assists while classmate Taylor Erwin led the squad with 25 digs, boosting her season total to 525, good for fourth place on the school's yearly ladder.
After seeing the Tigers bolt to a 2-0 lead in the match, Emory hit .419 (16-3—31) in the third set in narrowing the gap to 2-1. In the fourth set, Wittenberg sprinted out to a 7-3 lead following a kill by Jessica Batanian. Emory still trailed by a 10-7 count before rattling off seven unanswered points, with Silverman contributing a kill and a service ace in the run, to assume a 14-10 lead. Holding a slim 15-13 advantage, Emory recorded four of the set's next six points, capped by an ace by sophomore Kate Bowman, to build a 19-15 lead. However a 5-1 WU charge knotted the game at 20-20. A kill by Silverman put Emory ahead by a point, but a termination by the Tigers' Andrea Behling capped a 3-0 Tiger run and put the visitors ahead, 23-21. A kill by Emory senior Alena Ransom drew Emory to within one point, and following a Wittenberg kill, a put-away by Duhl kept the Eagles' alive at 23-24. However, Wittenberg picked up the set's final point in closing out the match.
Emory concludes play at the Invitational on Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. match vs. Washington and Lee and a 3:30 p.m. bout with UMASS-Boston.