The No. 8-ranked Emory volleyball team wrapped up the home portion of its regular-season schedule on Saturday by splitting a pair of matches at its National Invitational.  The Eagles opened with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-5) outcome over Washington and Lee before seeing an eight-match win streak come to an end when Birmingham Southern came away with a 3-1 triumph (22-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-18).  Emory now stands at 21-6 on the year.

The Eagles hit .244 (35-14—86) while holding W&L to -.025 (20-22—80).  Senior Sydney Leimbach finished the contest hitting .538 after registering a team-leading eight kills with just one error in 13 attempts. Senior Karissa Dzurik was second with seven terminations while senior Mady Arles and junior Morgan McKnight each chipped in five kills, with Arles adding 24 assists and two blocks.

BSC became just the sixth team this year to enjoy an edge in attack percentage over the Eagles, posting a mark of .267 (53-18—131) compared to Emory's .185 (45-20—135). Leimbach rang up a team-leading 13 kills, hitting .600 (13-1—20) in the process, and also tied for match honors with four (2-2) total blocks.  In the two matches on Saturday, Leimbach hit .575 (21-2—33).  Dzurik was the other Eagle to finish in double digits with a dozen successful swings while also contributing six digs. Arles dished out 39 digs to go along with six digs and an ace, while senior Elyse Thompson topped the team with 14 digs.

Emory returns to action next Friday (Nov. 2) when it takes on Brandeis in the quarterfinals of the UAA Championships in Rochester, NY.  The Eagles enter the Championships as the No. 1 seed while the Judges are the No. 8 seed. That match is scheduled for a noon start.