Posted: Nov 17, 2013
The No. 7-ranked Emory volleyball team has earned the right to play in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Championships following a win over Colorado College on Sunday in the title contest of the Atlanta Regional Championship. The Eagles won for the ninth time in their last 10 outings and raised their record to 33-4 after a 3-1 decision (25-17, 19-25, 25-13, 25-14) over the Tigers who closed out the year at 35-5.
The Eagles hit .355 (56-13—121) for the match and used a solid defensive effort that limited the Tigers to a mark of .171 (47-23—140). Emory enjoyed a 59-44 edge in digs and recorded a 9-5 advantage in total blocks.
Freshman middle Jessica Holler picked a good time to come up with her best offensive match of the year, pounding out a season-high 16 kills and finishing with a .696 attack percentage (16-0—23) that ranks as the second-highest effort by an Emory player this year (12 kills or more). Freshman Sarah Maher was the other Emory performer to finish in double digits with 10 kills en route to a .471 hitting performance (10-2—17). Junior Kate Bowman and Leah Jacobs contributed nine and eight kills, respectively, with Bowman chipping in 11 digs. Junior Cat McGrath was a presence at the net with five blocks with sophomore Sydney Miles adding four blocks to go along with her 47 assists and 10 digs. Sophomore Taylor Erwin came through with 24 digs to lead the Eagles in that category.
Emory will face No. 17- ranked Eastern University (32-4) in the quarterfinals on Thursday (Nov. 21) in a 12:30 pm start. Eastern defeated Stevenson, 3-0, on Sunday in the Regional Final hosted by Juniata College. The D-III Championships will be held at the DeVos Field House on the campus of Hope College. The Eagles will be making their first appearance in the Round of 8 since the 2010 season when they finished as the national runner-up.