The No. 6-ranked Emory volleyball team begins the 'second season' of its schedule this Friday and Saturday (Nov. 7-8) when it competes at the University Athletic Association Championships. Serving as the host of this year's event will be Carnegie Mellon. All but one of this weekend's matches will be held at Skibo Gymnasium on the CMU campus.
The Eagles of head coach Jenny McDowell, 31-3 overall, enter the Championships as the No. 2 seed with a league mark of 6-1. The Eagles' opening-round foe will be No. 7 seed Rochester (16-17, 1-6) with that match taking place at noon on Friday. The winner of that contest advances to the semifinals later that day to meet the winner of the Carnegie Mellon (#3 seed) vs. New York (#6 seed) clash. The championship match is slated for a 1:00 pm start on Saturday. Below is schedule of the UAA Championships.
Friday, Nov. 7
12:00 pm – Match A – Washington University vs. Brandeis
12:00 pm – Match D -- Emory vs. Rochester
2:00 pm – Match B – Case Western Reserve vs. Chicago
2:00 pm – Match C -- Carnegie Mellon vs. NYU
4:00 pm -- Match G – Winner of Match A vs. Winner of Match B
4:00 pm – Match H – Winner of Match C vs. Winner of Match D
6:00 pm -- Match E – Loser of Match A vs. Loser of Match B
6: 00 pm – Match F – Loser of Match C vs. Loser of Match D
Saturday, Nov. 8
10:00 am – 7th place match – Loser of Match E vs. Loser of Match F (Cohon University Center)
10:00 am – 5th place match – Winner of Match E vs. Winner of Match F
10:00 am – 3rd place match – Loser of Match G vs. Loser of Match H
1:00 pm – Championship Match
Emory heads into the UAA Championships with wins in its last five and in 19 of its last 20 matches. The team's victory total represents the eighth straight and 17th campaign in school in history of 30 or more wins.
The Eagles are coming off an impressive 3-0 record at the Emory National Invitational last weekend, opening with a 3-0 verdict over Berry College followed by a 3-1 decision over UMASS Boston. On Saturday, Emory closed out the Invitational with a 3-0 triumph over Washington and Lee.
At the start of the week, the Eagles post a league-leading attack percentage of .275, good for the No. 3 slot nationally. Emory has recorded an edge in hitting in 32 matches this year with the only foe to claim an advantage in that department being Washington University (Oct. 18). Leading the league in that category is sophomore Jessica Holler with a .406 effort (240-49—470), good for fifth place among all D-III players. The 6-foot-1 middle has produced 15 matches of a .400 or higher hitting percentage while banging out double-figure kills in 10 of her 25 contests. The Eagles have three of the league's top five performers in attack percentage with sophomore right side Sarah Maher (.311) and senior outside Leah Jacobs (.310) standing fourth and fifth, respectively. Jacobs ranks as the squad's leader with a 3.77 kills-per-set average, good for the No. 2 spot on the UAA ladder, and enters the UAA Championships with a team-leading 22 outings of double-figure terminations. In addition to Jacobs, both Holler (2.73 kps, 5th) and Maher (2.52 kps, 9th) hold down top-10 positions in the league in kills per set. A big reason for the efficiency of the Emory attack has been the stellar play of junior setter Sydney Miles, whose 10.45 assists-per-set average leads the UAA and ranks 18th nationally. Miles has dished out 50 or more assists on five occasions this year and heads into the weekend in the No. 3 spot on the school's all-time ladder with 3,980 assists. Defensively, senior Kate Bowman, who has played in all 120 of the team's sets, is posting a mark of 4.40 digs per set, good for third on the UAA chart. Bowman is another player ascending various all-time categories at Emory including digs (2nd, 1313) and digs per set (5th, 3.20 dps).
Emory has won three of the last five and five UAA championships over the last nine years. The Eagles notched their first title in 2005 and then brought home their second crown in 2007. In 2009, Emory topped Washington University in the title match, and defended the crown in 2010 with a 3-1 decision over the No. 1-ranked Bears' squad. In 2012, Emory topped then No. 1-ranked Wash U, 3-1, in the title clash. Last year, Emory finished runner-up at the Championships, coming out on the short end of a 3-1 outcome to Chicago in the showdown for the title.