The Emory University volleyball team has advanced to the title match of the University Athletic Association Championships following a victory over No. 8-ranked Washington University in the semifinals Friday afternoon.  The Eagles raised their overall record to 30-3 following a 3-0 verdict (25-23, 26-24, 25-16) over the Bears who slipped to 26-6.  Serving as the host for this weekend's action is Brandeis University.

Emory hit .260 (45-13--123) for the match while limiting Wash U, who entered the match No. 2 in the UAA in hitting percentage (.248) to an effort of .136 (38-20--132).  The Eagles finished with a 64-52 edge in digs and a 10-5 margin in blocks.

For the second straight match, junior Leah Jacobs topped all players in kills finishing with 12 terminations, her fifth straight outing of double figures in that category.   Jacobs led a balanced Emory attack that saw four players register eight or more kills.  Freshman Jessica Holler closed out an error-free day in the hitting department with 10 terminations to go along with a fine hitting percentage of .455 (10-0--22).   Over the two Friday outings, Holler hit .500 with 18 successful attack attempts and no miscues in 36 opportunities.  Holler also paced all players with seven blocks (0-7), her 10th outing of five or more this year.  Freshman Sarah Maher boosted the offense with eight timely kills and hitting .400 (8-2--15).  Sophomore setter Sydney Miles racked up 36 assists and contributed 14 digs while sophomore Taylor Erwin tallied a match-high 18 digs.

After Emory held off the Wash U in the first set, the Bears used a 9-3 run in the second game to take a15-9 lead.  The Eagles trailed by a 17-12 count before kills by junior Kate Bowman and Holler keyed a 4-0 spurt that drew it to within one point.  The Bears responded with three straight points, boosting their advantage to 20-16.  Wash U still maintained a three-point cushion, 22-19, before Emory rattled off five unanswered points, the last two coming via kills by Jacobs and McGrath, to assume a 24-22 lead.  Emory saw its opponent knot the game at 24-24 before McGrath and Jacobs recorded kills to close out the set and give Emory a 2-0 edge in the match.

Emory's momentum carried over into the third set when a 6-0 burst, keyed by McGrath's two service aces and a kill, gave it a solid 12-3 lead.  The Bears got back to within seven points but back-to-back kills by Jacobs allowed the Eagles to regain a nine-point bulge, 17-8, that would prove to be insurmountable for Wash U to overcome.

The 30 wins represents the seventh straight year that Emory has reached that victory total.  The Eagles will battle No. 20 Chicago for the UAA crown on Saturday in a 1:00 pm start.