The Emory volleyball team delves into conference play this Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 3-4) when it travels to New York City to compete in the University Athletic Association Round Robin I. The Eagles will battle Case Western Reserve (12:00 pm) and Brandeis (2:00 pm) on the opening day of action before meeting Carnegie Mellon on Sunday in a noon start.
The UAA Round Robin I website is:
http://gonyuathletics.com/sports/2015/9/26/WVB_UAAROUNDROBIN1.aspx
THE COACHES – Emory head coach Jenny McDowell (Georgia, '89) is in her 20th year at the helm of the Eagles' program and claims a school and career mark of 635-145. She has 16 campaigns of 30 or more wins, and has directed the program to 19 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament. She has steered the Eagles to five berths to the national semifinals and has a national championship to her credit in 2008.
Karen Farrell (Brandeis, '93) is in the ninth year of her second stint heading up the fortunes of the Case Western program. Farrell, who guided the Spartans previously from 1995 through 1998, has a 13-year school record of 258-187. Now in her 20th year as a head coach, Farrell claims a career record of 348-303.
In her second campaign as the head coach at Brandeis is Alesia Vaccari (Springfield, '06). Prior to her current post, Vaccari served as the head coach at Simmons College from 2011 through 2014. In five seasons as a head coach, she has a career ledger of 60-84.
2015 represents the 11th year that Kim Kelly (Gettysburg, '92) is serving as the head coach of the Carnegie Mellon program. Heading into the UAA Round Robin I, Kelly has a school record of 213-157. In 20 campaigns as a head coach, which includes a nine-year run at Gettysburg College (1996 through 2004), Kelly claims a career showing of 463-239
RECORDS – Emory heads into the weekend with a 17-2 record. The Eagles, ranked No. 3 in this week's AVCA D-III Top 25 Poll, has won its last five matches and are coming off a pair of Wednesday evening 3-0 wins over intra-city opponents Oglethorpe University and Agnes Scott College.
Case Western has gotten off to an exceptional start with wins in 14 of its first 15 outings. The Spartans received votes in this week's AVCA Poll, and start the weekend on a four-match winning streak with those taking place this past weekend at the CMU Double Tree Invitational.
Brandeis enters the UAA Round Robin I with a record of 3-11. The Judges split a pair of home matches on Saturday, defeating Simmons, 3-0, before coming out on the short end of a 3-0 verdict to Roger Williams.
Carnegie Mellon, ranked No. 21 in the AVCA Poll, starts the Round Robin I with a shiny record of 18-2. The Tartans hosted and won three of four matches at its Double Tree Invitational last weekend with one of those victories a 3-2 outcome over No. 25 Mount Union.
SERIES RECORDS – Emory stands 39-3 all-time against Case Western Reserve. The Eagles and Spartans met last season at the UAA Round Robin I with Emory prevailing by a 3-0 score.
Emory has been victorious in 37 of the 43 meetings with Brandeis. The teams squared off in the 2014 Round Robin I with the Eagles registering a 3-0 win.
Emory owns a 30-10 edge in the series with Carnegie Mellon. The Eagles won both meetings last year, 3-2 at the UAA Round Robin I and 3-0 in the semifinals of the UAA Championships.
EMORY CAPTAINS – Serving as the captains for the 2015 Emory volleyball team will be the senior duo of Sydney Miles (Oklahoma City, OK) and Ashley Crawford (Naperville, IL), along with juniors Jessica Holler (Roswell, GA) and Sarah Maher (Orange, CA).
MILES IN RARIFIED AIR – Sydney Miles finds herself in the No. 2 spot on the program's all-time ladder with 5,091 assists, trailing only Natalie Schonefeld's (2008-11) top mark of 5,732. Miles dished out a season-high 58 assists, tying her third-highest career total, in a 3-2 victory over then No. 2 Christopher Newport last Friday, her third performance this season and 18th of her career with 50 or more.
Miles leads the UAA with an average of 11.59 assists per game. At the start of the week, Miles held down the No. 2 spot nationally in assists per set.
In addition to her assists total, Miles has moved into the No. 15 spot on the Eagles' all-time ladder with 907 digs.
EAGLES RACKING UP THE HONORS -- The following is a list of various honors that Emory players have received this season
Calvin College Labor Day Weekend Invitational All-Tournament Team (Sept. 4-5)
Sydney Miles
Sarah Maher
Emory Classic All-Tournament Team (Sept. 11-12)
Sydney Miles (MVP)
Kathryn Trinka
Shannon Nugent
Emory National Invitational All-Tournament Team (Sept. 18-19)
Sydney Miles
UAA Player of the Week
Sydney Miles (Setter/Defense) – Sept. 8
Sydney Miles (Setter/Defense) – Sept. 21
Jessica Holler (Offense) – Sept. 21
Kathryn Trinka (Offense) – Sept. 28
Sydney Miles (Setter/Defense) – Sept. 28
NOTES– Emory's contest against Christopher Newport was its sixth match of the season against a Top 25 opponent (4-2) … Sophomore Victoria Lord (Wilmette, IL) came through with a career-high 10 kills in the 3-0 win over Oglethorpe and followed that effort with another 10-terminations effort against Agnes Scott … Freshman Sydney Leimbach (Atlanta, GA) tied her season high with nine kills against Oglethorpe … Emory finished with a .423 hitting percentage (42-9—78) vs. Agnes Scott, its second-highest mark of the campaign … The Eagles have hit .300 or higher on eight occasions this year … Emory currently leads the UAA and ranked second nationally at the start of the week in hitting percentage (.293) … Emory has been dominant on its home floor, fashioning a 336-52 (.866) won-lost ledger since the 1992 campaign … Since the 2008 season, Emory stands 113-9 (.926) in contests played at the Woodruff PE Center … Junior Kathryn Trinka (North Bay Village, FL) pounded out a career-high 20 kills against Christopher Newport on Friday, the high-water mark by an Emory player this year … Trinka leads the team and ranks No. 2 in the UAA with a 3.72 kills-per-set average … Trinka has produced 15 matches of double-figure kills … Junior Sheridan Rice (Solana Beach, CA) recorded back-to-back matches of a season-high tying 17 digs in the Oglethorpe and Agnes Scott matches, helping her climb into the No. 18 position among UAA players in digs per set (2.77 dps) … Jessica Holler paces the league with a hitting percentage of .438 (106-18—201) and held down the No. 1 spot nationally in that category in matches through Sept. 27 … Holler also leads the team and is fourth on the league chart in blocks (0.82 bps) … Sarah Maher is second on the team and No. 8 in the conference in kills average (2.85 kps) …Emory has enjoyed an edge in hitting percentage in 17 matches this season and has been outhit in terms of percentage just three times over the last 62 contests … Freshman Becky Breuer has 14 matches of double-figure digs and her 4.94 per-set average in the category is second on the UAA chart … Breuer has five matches of 20 or more digs including a season-best 26 against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps … The Eagles rank third among UAA squads in opponent hitting percentage (.127).
NEW FACES ON THE EMORY ROSTER – Nine talented freshmen comprise this year's 20-player roster with those rookies being: Mady Arles (Richmond, VA), Mila Barzdukas (Studio City, CA), Becky Breuer (Aurora, IL), Karissa Dzurik (Columbia, PA), Mira Grinsfelder (St. Paul, MN), Yasmeen Johnson (Mundelein, IL), Sydney Leimbach (Atlanta, GA), Carly Saitman (Hidden Hills, CA) and Samantha Sestanovich (Manhattan Beach, CA).