This week marks the beginning of a new iteration for the Emory University volleyball program as the Eagles look to get underway with three matches against regional competition to open the 2022 season.
Emory kicks things off Thursday night as LaGrange College visits the Woodruff PE Center for a 7:00 pm showdown prior to the Eagles traveling to Birmingham, AL for a doubleheader Saturday afternoon against Birmingham-Southern and Covenant College.
The Eagles, who enter the season ranked No. 8 in the AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll, will have a bit of new look entering the season with just 10 returners back in the fold from the 2021 squad that finished 25-6 and advanced to NCAA Regional Final. The 2022 version will be comprised of 20 underclassman to go along with four juniors and seniors and one graduate transfer.
Sophomores Deborah Hong and Madison Cail highlight the returning core following their All-University Athletic Association campaigns a year ago while senior Lauren Bandera and junior Carly Wallace will provide a strong veteran presence after both contributed solid seasons last season. In addition, sophomores Alana Dawson, Lily Martin and Sarah Luong figure to contribute heavily to the Eagles attack once more.
The Eagles are set to welcome one of larger newcomer groups in recent memory, adding graduate transfer Lauren Bowers from the University of South Carolina and a freshman class bolstering 12 players, highlighted by Elly Beshears, Olivia Rabinowitz, Kate LaRocco and Kaya Monrose.
Head Coach Jenny McDowell will be entering her 26th season on the Emory sidelines and will be joined on staff by Leah Saunders, Jona Braden, Trey Jones, Gary Aromin and Nick Liu. McDowell has guided the Eagles to 25 wins or more in every season during her legendary tenure and enters the 2022 season with an overall record of 804-175. She became the seventh coach in Division III history to reach the 800 wins milestone last October.
Following an opening week with regional foes and a road tilt against West Georgia, the Eagles will host one of the premier weekend tournaments of the regular season as seven teams, including four ranked inside the AVCA preseason top-13, visit Atlanta for the East-West Classic on September 9 and 10. The Eagles are slated to battle a trio of national powerhouses in the Classic: No. 5 Trinity (TX) on Friday night followed by a doubleheader against No. 9 Johns Hopkins and No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps the following afternoon.
After that the Eagles embark on a trip to St. Louis for the first of three UAA Round Robins, taking on Case Western Reserve, Rochester and Chicago over a two-day span at WashU. Emory then closes out the month of September with a road meeting with Division II's Lee University on the 27th and a home match against Maryville on the 30th.
October gets underway with a Sunday doubleheader against WashU and Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh as part of the second conference round robin prior to three straight against SAA opponents including Sewanee (10/8) and Hendrix (10/14) to be played at the WoodPEC.
The Eagles conclude the UAA portion of the schedule on October 16 against Brandeis and NYU at Rochester before closing out the regular season with back-to-back home weekend tournaments with the Emory Classic on October 21-22 and Emory Invitational on October 28-29.
All told, the Eagles' slate will consist of 13 matches to be played at home, five true road matches and seven neutral site contests.