The No. 2-ranked Emory volleyball team split two Saturday matches on the final day of action at the Emory Volleyball Classic.  The Eagles opened with a hard-fought 3-1 decision (28-26, 15-25, 28-26, 25-17) over Southwestern University before being saddled with its first loss of the year when it came out on the short end of a 3-0 verdict to No. 6 Cal Lutheran.  Emory now stands 10-1 on the season.

Emory had its hands full against a determined Southwestern squad that was coming off two Friday setbacks.  The Eagles finished with a .147 attack percentage (51-26—170) compared to the Pirates' mark of .064 (46-35—173), and also recorded an 11-10 advantage  in total blocks.  Southwestern did enjoy an 85-80 margin in digs.   Emory gained the upper hand with the first-set win, battling back from a 23-20 deficit as well and three points that would have given SU a 1-0 match lead.  After the Pirates tied the match up at 1-1 with a second-set win, they continued their momentum in the third game, racing out to a 15-5 lead.  A pair of kills by freshman Jessica Holler keyed a 5-0 Emory run than cut SU's advantage to 15-10.  Trailing by an 18-13 count, the Eagles used a kill by junior Leah Jacobs and a pair of Southwestern attack errors to creep to within an 18-16 score.  The Pirates regrouped and a kill by Abbie Robb capped a 4-1 SU spurt that boosted its advantage to 24-20.  The Eagles stymied the Pirates' bid to capture the third set with four unanswered points that knotted the game at 24-24.  SU had a couple of chances to close the set out but came up short, the final time when it had 26-25 edge over the Eagles.  Emory then scored the final three points that gave it a 2-1 edge in the match.  Emory made the most of that opportunity, never trailing in the fourth set and hitting .419 (15-2—31) compared to SU's effort of .111 (11-7—36).  Holler led the team's offensive effort with 15 kills while junior Kate Bowman added 11 terminations and 13 digs.  Sophomore setter Sydney Miles dished out 37 assists while classmate Taylor Erwin topped all players with a season-high tying 28 digs.

Looking to go 11-0 for the first time in program history, the Eagles saw the visiting Cal Lutheran club hit an opponent season-high .271 (47-15—18) while registering a .144 showing (34-18—111).  The Regals posted a 54-43 cushion in digs while Emory finished with a 5-3 edge in total blocks. 

After trailing during the early stages of the first set, Emory used a 6-2 scoring run that turned a 13-11 deficit into a 17-15 lead.  CLU then responded by scoring six of the game's next nine points, giving it a one-point lead, 21-20. After a kill by Holler knotted the score, the teams split the next four points which made the score 23-23.  However, the Regals used a pair of terminations by Pua Mo'okiniOliveira to close out the set.  The second game was another hotly contested battle with the biggest lead for either team being three points. Trailing by an 18-15 count, Emory battled back to tie things up at 20-20 following an ace by Erwin.  A kill by Holler pushed the Eagles to a 23-22 lead, but the Regals accounted for the next three points to take a 2-0 match lead.  In what proved to be the final set of the contest, Emory was within striking distance when it trailed, 18-15, but CLU rattled off seven straight points to close out the match.  Bowman led the Eagles with nine kills while Holler chalked up eight successful attack attempts and three block assist.

The Eagles return to action next Friday and Saturday (Sept.13-14) when they host the Emory Invitational.

Emory Classic All-Tournament Team
Chastity Lacy ( CNU)
Sydney Miles (Emory)
Cat McGrath (Emory)
Kaitlyn Foster (Southwestern)
Allie Eason (CLU)
Kennedy Peters (CLU)

MVP --- Haley Tamagni (CLU)