The Emory volleyball team took an interesting road in earning the program’s 22^nd straight and 23^rd overall trip to the NCAA D-III Championships.

Head coach Jenny McDowell and her squad closed out 2017 with an overall slate of 30-7, the program’s 11^th straight campaign of 30 or more wins.  The Eagles advanced to the Championships after winning the Atlanta Regional, sweeping Worcester State, Christopher Newport University and Berry College.

Emory battled ill-timed injuries to a number of key players throughout the year, but a deep roster that played with resolve kept the team on a steady path to the postseason.

Emory opened the year at the Wittenberg Invitational where it defeated eventual NCAA Tourney teams Johns Hopkins and Illinois Wesleyan while coming out on the short end of a 3-2 verdict to host Wittenberg.

A 13-match win streak, which included home wins over No. 6 Juniata College and No. 8 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (eventual D-III national champ), upped Emory’s overall slate to 14-1.  After a loss to Chicago at the University Athletic Association Round Robin I, The Eagles posted victories over three South Region foes, leaving the squad with a 17-2 mark. 

The injury bug reared its ugly head prior to the first of three meetings with Berry College when junior middle Sydney Leimbach, a 2016 Honorable Mention All-American, was sidelined for the season.  Freshman Maggie Rimmel, who had seen considerable action at that spot, was soon sidelined as well, forcing Emory to juggle its lineup.  The results was three losses in five outings, before the team regrouped to rattle off eight straight triumphs, which included a sweep of Berry along with verdicts over Birmingham Southern and Randolph-Macon, both of whom would find their way to the post season.

After a runner-up finish at the UAA Championships, Emory landed an at-large berth to the Tournament and was picked as a host site for regional play.

Sophomore outside hitter Sara Carr spearheaded a balanced Emory offensive and captured First Team All-America honors.  The 5-foot-11 Carr, pounded out an average of 3.28 terminations per-set average, good for third place among UAA players.  Carr totaled a team-high 22 matches of double-figure kills and rang up a pair of a career-high tying 22-termination contests (vs. Carnegie Mellon (Oct. 15 & Nov. 3)  to her credit.

Sophomore Morgan McKnight was a key cog in the attack as well, placing second on the team with 19 matches with 10 or more terminations.  The team leader in kills in 10 matches, she landed Honorable Mention All-America acclaim and garnered second-team kudos on the all-UAA Team. 

Freshman outside hitter Leah Saunders, a dynamic and exciting player was named the UAA’s Rookie of the Year and tallied 17 contests of double-figure kills and ended the year fourth on the team and 14^th on the conference ladder in kills average (2.60).  

Sophomore libero Elyse Thompson, named a Third Team All-American, was the lynchpin of the Emory defense, with her team-leading 5.13 digs-per-set average third on the UAA ladder and a school seasonal record.  Tied with Morgan McKnight for the most sets played on the team this season (125), she compiled double-figure digs in 31 of her 35 matches and has nine outings of 20 or more digs, including six with 30 or more.  She established a school record with 38 digs in a 3-2 victory over Birmingham Southern (Oct. 22).

In lieu of the absence of Leimbach and Rimmel at middle, junior Carly Saitman and sophomore Savannah Bush stepped up to fill the void at the position.  Saitman hit .283 (85-25—212) over 75 sets and averaged 0.81 blocks per set, while Bush averaged 0.73 blocks and 1.37 kills in her 82 sets.  Bush came through with five (2-3) total blocks vs. Christopher Newport in the Atlanta Regional semifinal.

Junior Karissa Dzurik’s return to action during the latter portion of the schedule bolstered the team’s fortunes.  Dzurik missed a total of 23 matches before returning to the court on Oct. 22, where she has been productive, averaging 2.40 kills per set (48 total sets played).  At lthe Atlanta Regional, she pounded out a team-high 12 kills in the win over Worcester State before tying for match honors with 10 terminations the following night against No. 21 Christopher Newport.