MATCH FACTS – The Emory University volleyball team closes out the regular season with four home matches, beginning on Wednesday (Oct. 29) when it plays host to Piedmont College starting at 6:30 pm. Following the contest against the Lions, the Eagles will host the Emory National Invitational this Friday and Saturday (Oct. 31 – Nov. 1) with the schedule as follows:
Friday, Oct. 31
2:00 pm – UMASS-Boston vs. Washington & Lee
4:30 pm – Emory vs. Berry
7:00 pm – Emory vs. UMASS-Boston
Saturday, Nov. 1
10:30 am – Berry vs. Washington & Lee
1:00 pm – Emory vs. Washington & Lee
3:30 pm – Berry vs. UMASS-Boston
Friday evening will be Senior Night with the program recognizing the contributions of Leah Jacobs, Kate Bowman, Cat McGrath and Olivia Volarich.
THE COACHES – Emory head coach Jenny McDowell (Georgia, '89) is in her 19th year at the helm of the Eagles' program and owns a school and career mark of 606-142. 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 four berths to the national semifinals and has a national championship to her credit in 2008. She pocketed her 600th career triumph on Oct. 5 following a 3-2 victory over Carnegie Mellon.
Sid Feldman is in his sixth season as the head coach at Piedmont College and will take a school record of 133-68 into a Tuesday evening contest vs. Maryville. In 19 campaigns as a head coach, which includes an 11-year run (1978-88) at the University of Georgia where he mentored Jenny McDowell during that time, Feldman starts the week with a career won-lost ledger of 471-233.
Calling the shots for the Berry College program is seventh-year head coach Mika Robinson (Harvard, '96). Heading into the weekend, Robinson posts a school and career slate of 142-78, which includes four seasons of 20 or more victories and a berth in the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
Now in her 10th campaign at UMASS-Boston, co-head coach Terry Condon (UCLA, '77), takes a career record of 408-214 into a Tuesday match vs. Plymouth State. Condon has had previous head coaching stops at Cal State Bakersfield and Texas A&M. While at UMASS-Boston, she has directed the Beacons to NCAA Regional crowns in 2010, 2012 and 2013. Serving as co-head coach with Condon is Mike Houlihan.
Bryan Snyder (Washington & Lee, '95) is in his 15th year patrolling the sidelines for Washington & Lee. Snyder has guided the Generals to 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, and will bring a school and career record of 417-111 into this weekend's action.
2014 RECORDS – The Eagles, ranked No. 6 in the Oct. 21 AVCA Top 25 Poll, sport an 27-3 record. Emory is returning to action for the first time since, Oct. 18-19, when it captured three of four matches at the University Athletic Association Round Robin II in Chicago.
Piedmont College will take a three-match win streak into its Tuesday match vs. Maryville that has boosted its overall record to 18-10. The Lions hosted and defeated USA South Conference opponents Huntingdon College and Wesleyan by 3-0 scores on Sunday.
Berry College stands 14-13 overall after dropping Southern Athletic Association road matches to Birmingham Southern and Millsaps this past weekend.
UMASS-Boston starts the week with a 19-7 mark. Prior to its meeting with Plymouth State, the Beacons had emerged with three straight victories including a 3-2 decision over Western Connecticut State on Saturday.
A member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, Washington and Lee will bring an impressive 23-4 record into the Emory National Invitational. The Generals have won their last four outings.
SERIES RECORDS – Emory has captured all seven meetings against Piedmont College. Wednesday's match will be the first time the teams have squared off since 2011.
Emory holds an 11-0 edge in the all-time series with Berry. The Eagles and Vikings met earlier this year on Berry's home floor with Emory prevailing by a 3-0 margin.
Emory recorded a 3-0 triumph over UMASS-Boston during the Eagles' 2012 National Invitational in the only meeting between the schools.
Emory stands 23-1 all-time against Washington & Lee. The programs met twice during the 2012 campaign with the Eagles winning both of those encounters including a 3-1 outcome at the National Invitational.
EMORY CAPTAINS – Serving as the captains for the 2014 Emory volleyball team will be senior quartet of Cat McGrath (St. Louis, MO), Kate Bowman (Corpus Christi, TX), Leah Jacobs (Linville, VA) and Olivia Volarich (St. Louis, MO) and junior Sydney Miles (Oklahoma City, OK).
JACOBS PUTTING UP NUMBERS – Leah Jacobs continues to rank as one of the Eagles' key offensive weapons, and enters the upcoming weekend ranked prominently among the UAA leaders in several categories.
Jacobs holds down the No. 2 spots on the league ladder in both total kills (387) and kills per set (3.79 kps, was 37th nationally as of Oct. 19) while standing fifth with a .311 hitting percentage (387-103—913). She has produced a team-high 20 outings with double-figure terminations and has totaled four matches with 20 or more kills.
Heading into Friday's action, Jacobs has six of the squad's top-seven kills marks as well as the top two hitting percentage performances (.614 vs. Berry & .600 vs. Oglethorpe).
Her 387 kills are just 10 shy of tying for 20th place on the program's seasonal chart while her kills average is currently good for sixth place. Career-wise, she stands 20th on Emory's all-time list with 880 terminations.
MILES DIRECTING THE EMORY ATTACK – Emory leads the UAA and ranked No. 6 nationally (as of Oct. 19) in hitting percentage (.274), thanks in part to the deft play of junior setter Sydney Miles who tops the conference with a 10.39 assists-per-set average. Miles has doled out 50 or more assists on five occasions this year, most recently against Chicago (Oct. 19), where her 50 assists helped the Eagles to a 3-1 triumph.
Miles, who has 10 career matches of 50 or more assists, resides in the No. 3 position on the school's all-time chart with 3,838 assists. Earlier this year, she doled out a season-high 56 assists vs. Mary Hardin-Baylor (Sept. 6), and her 55 assists against Chicago (Sept. 20) in the Elmhurst Invitational tied her fourth-highest output.
HOLLER ON A TEAR – Sophomore Jessica Holler made her presence felt at the UAA Round Robin II, leading the team in kills in three of the four matches while ranking as the squad's top performer in total blocks.
Holler saw action in all 15 of the team's sets and averaged 3.27 kills while registering a hitting percentage of .489 (49-5—90). In addition, she registered 1.67 blocks per game. In the finale vs. Chicago, Holler pounded out 14 terminations with no errors in 26 opportunities (.538) and tied her career best with 10 blocks (0-10).
Holler leads the conference in both attack percentage (.415, 205-39—400) and blocks average (1.33 bps).
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 325-50 (.867) since 1992.
More recently, Emory has been dominant at the Woodpec, compiling a 102-7 record at home since the 2008 campaigns. In 2013, the Eagles were successful in 19 of 20 home matches with the lone setback coming at the hands of Cal Lutheran, 0-3 (Sept. 14, 2013). Emory, 9-0 at home this year, will meet Piedmont College on Oct. 29 with a 25-match home win streak.
NOTES – The Eagles have outhit their opposition in 28 matches … The only opponent to outhit Emory was Wash U (.234 vs. .190) at the UAA Round Robin II … Emory is averaging 13.46 kills per set, good for the No. 2 spot in the league … Kate Bowman holds down the No. 3 position in the UAA with 471 total digs, good for seventh place on the program's seasonal ladder, while her 4.40 per-set average in that category is sixth … Career-wise, Bowman has 1,256 digs, good for third place on the Eagles' all-time chart … Sophomore Shannon Nugent (Vernon Hills, IL) has given the Eagles some solid defensive play at the net with her 0.83 blocks-per-set average ranking fifth among the league leaders … Sophomore Sarah Maher's (Orange, CA) is No. 2 in the UAA with a .324 hitting mark (244-72—531) with her kills total tying for 10th place among the league leaders.