The 2013 Emory volleyball team enjoyed another successful season that culminated with an appearance in the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Championships.

In addition to advancing to the national semifinals or beyond for the fourth time in school history, Emory volleyball enjoyed a number of other outstanding accomplishments including the following:

** Finishing the season ranked No. 5 in the final American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 Poll.  Emory has been ranked in the top 20 in every weekly poll conducted by the AVCA for the last 17 seasons.

** Playing a demanding schedule that featured 18 matches against 15 teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament.  The Eagles enjoyed a fair amount of success against the field, racking up a 14-4 won-lost mark. 

** Playing 13 contests against top-25 teams, finishing with an 8-5 slate in those affairs including a decision over No. 1 St. Thomas and No. 3 Wittenberg in the first weekend of the season.

** Seeing two of its players, sophomore Sydney Miles and freshman Jessica Holler, capture first- and second-team All-America acclaim, respectively.

** Leading the UAA and ranking ninth nationally in the D-III ranks in hitting percentage (.263).

** Topping the league and holding down the No. 12 position on the national scene in kills per set (13.51 kps).

** Ranking first in the UAA and 30^th among all D-III squads in blocks per set (2.11 bps).

** Continuing to see the Woodruff PE Center provide the Eagles with a great home-court advantage.  Emory posted a 19-1 won-lost mark in home matches during the season, and over the past 10 years the Eagles have manufactured an impressive showing of 156-19 on their home floor (93-7 since 2008).

Jessica Holler’s play in the middle had a dynamic and positive effect on fortunes of the team with the 6-foot-1 performer contributing both offensively and defensively.  Holler averaged a conference-leading 1.13 blocks per set with that mark placing her 15th in the D-III ranks. Selected as both the UAA and South Region Rookie of the Year, Holler came through with 12 outings of five or more blocks, and her total of 154 ranked fourth on the Emory seasonal list. Holler ended the year with a solid hitting percentage of .356, good for the No. 2 slot in the conference and 33^rd nationally, and her 2.51 kills-per-set average was 13^th in the UAA.   

Junior middle Cat McGrath, 6-foot-2, amassed a number of honors, including a spot on the Honorable Mention All-America Team, after establishing herself as a formidable presence at the net.  The owner of 16 double-figure kill matches, she proved to be the team’s most efficient hitter with her attack percentage of .381 placing her first in the UAA, 12^th among Division III players and ninth on the school’s seasonal chart.  A Second Team All-UAA pick, McGrath hit .400 or higher on 22 occasions including a pair of contests where she finished with double-figure kills and no errors.  In addition, she tied for the No. 2 position on the league list in blocks with a 0.85 per-set showing. 

Two other Emory players, junior outside Leah Jacobs and sophomore Taylor Erwin, were honorable-mention selections to the All-UAA Team.  The 5-foot-10 Jacobs peppered the opposition with a team-high 384 terminations during the year and her squad-best 2.91 kills per set ranked eighth in the UAA. Jacobs registered a team-high 21 matches of double-digit kills and she either led or shared for the team’s lead in that category in nine matches.  Erwin, 5-foot-10, was a key defensive performer at her libero post, helping the Eagles limit their opponents to just a .129 hitting percentage, the second-best mark in the UAA.  She topped the team and was fifth among UAA players in digs with a 4.50 per-set mark, and her final total of 630 digs slotted her into the No. 2 position on the school’s seasonal ladder.  After just two seasons in the program, she already stands third all-time at Emory with 1,283 digs to her credit.   

Honors