After enjoying a rare weekend free of competition, the Emory volleyball team will return to action on Monday (Oct. 12), when it travels to Piedmont College for a 2:00 pm match. The Eagles then return home on Tuesday where they will tangle with Lee University starting at 6:00 pm.
A video stream of Emory's contest against Lee will be provided. Handling the play-by-play duties will be Melissa Lee. Those wishing to access the webcast can go to the following link:
http://www.emoryathletics.com/information/webcasts.
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 638-145. 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.
Sid Feldman (SUNY Oneonta, '66) is in his seventh year as the head coach of the Piedmont College program. Heading into a pair of October 10 matches, Feldman had compiled a school record of 146-79. He has guided the Lions to 20 or more victories in each of his first six campaigns including a school-record 28 wins in 2013. Now in his 20th season as a head coach, Feldman heads into the weekend with a career ledger of 484-244.
In her 25th campaign as the head coach at Lee is Andrea Hudson (Lee Univ., '84). With a Saturday date against Mississippi College on tap before the Emory contest, Hudson posts a career record of 770-273. During her tenure with the Flames' program, she has registered 30 or more wins on 16 occasions.
RECORDS – Emory heads into the Piedmont match with a 20-2 record (3-0 University Athletic Association). The Eagles, ranked No. 3 in this week's AVCA D-III Top 25 Poll, have won their last eight matches and are coming off a 3-0 effort at the UAA Round Robin I this past weekend in New York. Emory swept both Case Western Reserve and Brandeis on Saturday before upending No. 21 Carnegie Mellon, 3-0, on Sunday.
Piedmont stands 11-8 heading into Saturday where it will face Mary Baldwin and Greensboro College. As they enter the weekend, the Lions have won five of their past six encounters.
Lee, a member of Division II's Gulf South Conference, takes an overall showing of 7-7 into its home contest against Mississippi College on Saturday. The Flames will be looking to rebound after suffering a 3-1 loss at Shorter on Thursday.
SERIES RECORDS – Emory has won all eight meetings against Piedmont. The two programs last meet in 2014 with Emory recording a 3-0 win in Atlanta.
Lee claims an 18-15 edge in the all-time series with Emory. The Eagles have won the last two match-ups between the schools including a 3-1 decision last season on the Lee campus.
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 5,199 assists, trailing only Natalie Schonefeld's (2008-11) top mark of 5,732. During the UAA Round Robin I, she averaged 12.0 assists per set, and doled out 45 in the 3-0 win over Case Western
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 (Sept., 25), her third performance this season and 18th of her career with 50 or more.
Through matches played Oct. 7, Miles ranks No. 2 in the UAA with an average of 11.64 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 stands in the No. 15 spot on the Eagles' all-time ladder with 930 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
Sarah Maher (Offense) – October 5
HOLLER ON HITTING TEAR – Jessica Holler hit a blistering .469 at the UAA Round Robin I, totaling 18 kills with just three errors in 32 attempts. In the Carnegie Mellon match, she hit .545 (6-0—11) while also contributing a season-high tying three service aces and four block assists.
Holler has hit .400 or better in eight of the 15 matches she has appeared in this season, and through matches played Oct. 7, ranked No. 2 in the league and in the nation with a .442 attack percentage (124-21—233). Her 22 service aces leads the squad and her 0.41 per-set average in that category is good for the No. 4 spot on the UAA ladder.
NOTES– Emory's contest against Carnegie Mellon was its seventh match of the season against a Top 25 opponent (5-2) … Kathryn Trinka leads the team and ranks No. 2 in the UAA with a 3.79 kills-per-set average, with that mark good for 53rd nationally (through Oct. 4) … Trinka, who averaged a team-high 4.22 kills per set at the UAA Round Robin I, has produced 18 matches of double-figure kills …Trinka's 18 terminations in the Case Western match represented her second-highest career total … Trinka has the top two and three of the top four individual kills total recorded by an Emory player this season … 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 … The Eagles have hit .300 or higher on 10 occasions this year … In matches played through October 7, Emory leads the UAA and ranked second nationally at the start of the week in hitting percentage (.297) … Emory has enjoyed an edge in hitting percentage in 20 matches this season and has been outhit in terms of percentage just three times over the last 65 contests … Jessica Holler paces the team and is No. 4 on the UAA ladder in blocks (0.81 bps) … Through October 7, Emory ranks third in the league in opponent hitting percentage (.121) … Sarah Maher holds down second place on the team's score sheet with a 2.91 kills-per-set average, good for sixth position on the league list … Maher's team-high tying 10 kills in the Brandeis match represented her 12th performance of double figures … In addition, Maher is second on the team and stood 14th among UAA players in digs per set (2.91 dps) … Freshman Becky Breuer has 16 matches of double-figure digs and her 4.84 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 (Sept. 19) … Junior Shannon Nugent tied Holler for the team lead in blocks (0.78 bps) at the UAA Round Robin I, and her 0.72 per-set average this season stands seventh on the UAA chart.
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).