ATLANTA REGIONAL FACTS – The No. 7-ranked Emory University volleyball team will serve as host for the opening rounds of the NCAA Division III Tournament. One of 64 teams vying for the Division III national crown, the Eagles will host an eight-team regional with play scheduled for this Friday through Sunday (Nov. 15-17). Emory's opening-round foe will be cross-town rival Agnes Scott College with that contest slated for an 8:00 p.m. start on Friday. All matches will be played at the Woodruff PE Center on the Emory campus.
Action in the regional will consist of four matches on Friday. On Saturday, the regional semifinals will be played at 1:30 and 4:00 p.m., with the Regional Championship slated for 2:00 p.m., on Sunday (Nov. 17). A list of the matches with times is below.
Friday, Nov. 15
Match 1 – Claremont-Mudd-Scripps vs. Thomas More (12:30 p.m.)
Match 2 – Colorado College vs. Maryville (3:00 p.m.)
Match 3 – Berry College vs. Washington & Lee (5:30 p.m.)
Match 4 – Emory vs. Agnes Scott vs. (8:00 p.m.)
Saturday, Nov. 16
Match 5 – Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner (1:30 p.m.)
Match 6 – Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner (4:00 p.m.)
Sunday, Nov. 17
Atlanta Regional Championship (2:00 p.m.)
THE COACHES – Emory head coach Jenny McDowell (Georgia, '89) is in her 18th year at the helm of the Eagles' program. During her stint at Emory, she has compiled a school and career record of 575-138. She has 15 campaigns of 30 or more wins, and has directed the program to 18 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament. She has steered the Eagles to three berths to the national semifinals and has a national championship to her credit in 2008.
Agnes Scott is led by Catherine Geerlings (Southwetsren, '92), who is in her fourth campaign as head coach.
In his 14th season in directing the fortunes at Washington & Lee is Bryan Snyder (W&L, '95). Heading into its battle vs. Berry, Snyder has manufactured an impressive school mark of 394-106. In 16 years as a head coach, which includes a two-year stint at St. Mary's (MD), Snyder has a career performance of 435-131. This will be the 11th time that he has directed the Generals to the NCAA Tournament.
Calling the shots for Colorado College is head coach Rick Swan (James Madison, '86). Now in his 16th year with the Tigers, Swan has directed the program to a berth in the NCAAs in every year during his tenure and heads into this season's national tourney with a school mark of 388-145.
Kurt Vlasich (Pepperdine, '99) is in his third season as the head coach at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and claims a won-lost ledger of 60-27. This is the first time that he has led the program to the NCAA Tournament.
The Scots of Maryville College are led by 28th-year head coach Kandis Schram. At the start of this weekend's play, Schram posts a school and career record of 667-356. This is Maryville's 11th trip to the NCAAs.
In his second stint and seventh season as the head coach at Thomas More is John Spinney. Under his watch, the Saints have compiled a 191-82 record. This is the fourth time that he has guided the program to the NCAA Tournament.
2013 RECORDS – Emory, ranked No. 7 nationally among Division III teams in this week's AVCA Top 25 Poll, stands 30-4 in overall play. Last weekend, the Eagles finished runner-up in the University Athletic Association Championships, defeating Case Western and No. 8 Washington University by 3-0 scores in their first two outings before falling by a 3-1 margin to No. 20 Chicago in the finals. Emory has seven straight seasons and 16 overall of 30 or more wins.
Agnes Scott will meet Emory with an overall mark of 11-17. The Scotties earned the school's first-ever berth to the NCAA Tournament via automatic bid following their 3-0 triumph over Salem College in the finals of the Great South Athletic Conference Tournament.
Berry College comes to the Woodruff PE Center sporting an overall slate of 25-7. The Vikings gained entry to the post season as an at-large bid, and are coming off a first-place effort at the Southern Athletic Association Championship last weekend.
Washington & Lee checks in with a 28-6 ledger and earned an automatic spot in the postseason after capturing the Old Dominion Athletic Conference for the second straight year, toppling Lynchburg, 3-0 in the finals.
Colorado College, ranked 12th in this week's AVCA Poll, stands 33-4 overall. A member of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), the Tigers garnered an at-large bid to the national tournament after a third-place finish at its league championship last weekend.
Runner-up to Cal Lutheran at the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament last weekend, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps will battle Thomas More with a record of 24-6.
Maryville College used a championship run in the USA South Tournament to bring home an automatic bid to the NCAAs. The Scots have won their last 15 and 22 out of their last 23 matches, raising their overall record to 24-15.
Thomas Moore stands 24-5 and earned an automatic bid to the NCAAs after winning the President's Athletic Conference Championship, defeating Bethany College, 3-2, in the finals.
SERIES RECORDS WITH REGIONAL FIELD – Emory stands 6-0 all-time against Agnes Scott. The last meetings came during the 1996 season when the Eagles captured a pair of matches against the Scotties.
In a series that started in 2005, Emory posts a 9-0 record against Berry. The two teams met earlier this year (Nov. 2) at the Emory National Invitational with the Eagles prevailing by a 3-1 score.
Emory has emerged victorious in 23 of 24 meetings against Washington and Lee. The last match took place on Emory's home floor during the 2012 campaign where it came away with a 3-1 outcome.
Emory claims the win in the only match against Colorado College, with that taking place in the 2008 regional semifinals in San Antonio, 3-1.
Emory has won 20 of the 22 contests against the Scots of Maryville. The Eagles hosted Maryville earlier this year (Sept. 20) and won by a 3-0 margin.
Emory holds a 4-0 edge in the all-time series with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The last times the Eagles and Athenas squared off was at the Cal Lutheran Tournament in 2011 when Emory notched a 3-0 victory.
Emory stands 3-0 against Thomas More with the last match taking place in 2009 where the Eagles came away with a 3-0 triumph.
EMORY AND THE NCAA FIELD – Emory has played a total of 18 matches against 15 teams that advanced to this year's NCAA Tournament Championship. The Eagles have enjoyed a fair amount of success against this year's field that it has faced, racking up a 14-4 won-lost mark. The Eagles have battled three NCAA Tourney members on two occasions (Trinity University, 2-0; Washington University, 1-1 and Chicago, 0-2).
EMORY ENJOYS SUCCESS ON HOME FLOOR – The Eagles have enjoyed considerable success over the years playing at the Woodruff PE Center compiling a home won-lost slate of 313-50 (.862) since 1992.
More recently, Emory has been dominant at the Woodpec, compiling a 90-7 record at home since the 2008 campaign. In 2013, the Eagles have been successful in 16 of 17 home matches with the lone setback coming at the hands of Cal Lutheran, 0-3, on Sept. 14. Entering this weekend, the Eagles have a 13-match home win streak.
TRIO SERVES AS EMORY CAPTAINS – Serving as the captains for the 2013 Emory volleyball team will be senior Sarah Taub (Boulder, CO), and juniors Cat McGrath (St. Louis, MO) and Kate Bowman (Corpus Christi, TX).
BOWMAN PACES SQUAD IN DOUBLE-DOUBLES – Junior Kate Bowman's career-high 20-kill, 13-dig outing against Trinity (Nov. 2) at the Emory National Invitational represented her team-leading 10th double-double (kills/digs) of the season. The 5-foot-10 Bowman is no stranger to that category with a total of 23 double-doubles during her career.
Bowman is second on the team and ninth among UAA performers in kills (2.83 kps), and has recorded 14 matches with 10 or more terminations. Bowman also ranks second on the squad and 13th on the league ladder with a 2.73 digs-per-set average. She has racked up 15 matches of double-figure digs this season.
Career-wise, Erwin has registered 26 matches of 20 or more digs and her total of 1,208 ranks 4th on the school's all-time chart, just 36 shy of moving into the No. 3 position and 100 from moving into the No. 4 slot.
Her season total of 555 digs places her fifth on the Emory ladder, just 20 from moving into the No. 2 spot. Erwin holds the Eagle record for most digs in a year with 653 in 2012.
During the opening weekend of action, Erwin was named to the Courtyard Marriott Invitational All-Tournament Team after averaging 5.42 digs per set in helping the Eagles to a 3-0 record. One of her outings at the Invitational was a 27-digs effort in a 3-2 win over then No. 1 St. Thomas.
JACOBS BOOSTING THE EMORY OFFENSE – Junior Leah Jacobs has given the Emory offense boost with her recent play and will enter this weekend's action with double-figure kills in her last six matches, a career-long for the Linville, VA, native. Jacobs has dished out 82 terminations over those last six contests, boosting her kills-per-set average to a team-leading 2.94, good for the No. 8 spot on the UAA chart.
In a 3-2 decision over Trinity at the Emory National Invitational, Jacobs led Emory with a career-best 22 kills and followed that performance up at the UAA Championships by leading the squad in that department against Case Western (16) and Washington University (12).
EMORY 2013 HONORS – So far this year, Emory players have racked up a variety of honors which are noted below
ALL-UAA
Kate Bowman – First Team
Jessica Holler – First Team, Co-Rookie of the Year
Sydney Miles – First Team
Cat McGrath – Second Team
Taylor Erwin – Honorable Mention
Leah Jacobs – Honorable Mention
ALL-UAA
Kate Bowman – First Team
Jessica Holler – First Team, Co-Rookie of the Year
Sydney Miles – First Team
Cat McGrath – Second Team
Taylor Erwin – Honorable Mention
Leah Jacobs – Honorable Mention
CAPITAL ONE ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Leah Jacobs
Cat McGrath (MVP)
Sydney Miles
Kate Bowman
EMORY TOURNAMENT ALL-TOURNAMENT (SEPT. 27-28)
Sydney Miles (MVP)
Jessica Holler
Taylor Erwin
EMORY INVITATIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT (SEPT. 20-21)
Kate Bowman – MVP
Leah Jacobs
Sydney Miles
EMORY CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT (SEPT. 13-14)
Sydney Miles
Cat McGrath
RANDOLPH-MACON INVITATIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT (SEPT. 6-7)
Jessica Holler
Sydney Miles
WITTENBERG INVITATIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT (Aug. 30- Aug. 31)
Sydney Miles
Taylor Erwin