The No. 6 ranked Emory University volleyball team split matches on Sunday afternoon at the third and final UAA Round Robin in Rochester, New York.
In the first match of the day, the Eagles (12-6, 4-3) topped Brandeis in dominant fashion winning 25-19, 25-13, 25-23. In what ended up being a thrilling five set match against No. 8 NYU in which the Eagles battled back from two sets down, Emory eventually fell 25-23, 25-16, 23-25, 17-25, 15-9.
Junior Carly Wallace led the team in kills in both matches, recording 13 kills against Brandeis before matching her season-high with 16 kills against NYU. Wallace also combined for 16 digs over the two matches. Sophomore Lily Martin had a strong day of her own registering 21 kills over the two matches while junior Amanda Meyer put up 16 kills of her own. Sophomore Madison Cail was a menace in the middle all day as she recorded six blocks including a season-high five against NYU. Freshman Elly Beshears had one of the best days of her young career as she posted the most service aces in a match this season for the Eagles with seven against Brandeis. Meanwhile, senior Lauren Bandera posted 30 digs in the match against NYU which is the most by any Eagle this season.
The Eagles jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in the first set against Brandeis thanks to two service aces from freshman Olivia Rabinowitz. The Judges would keep the first set close but a 4-0 run to close the set, highlighted by two of Beshears seven service aces, saw Emory take the first set 25-19. The Eagles came out firing on all cylinders in the second set taking the first ten points to help them take the second set 25-13.
The third set was a much tighter affair but started out with more of the same for the Eagles as they jumped out to a 17-9 lead. The Judges chipped away little by little culminating in a 4-0 run that saw them trail by just one at 24-23. Emory wouldn't let it go any farther though as Meyer put the nail in the coffin with a big time kill down the middle to win the first match of the day for the Eagles.
In the second match of the day against NYU, the Eagles struggled out of the gate dropping the first two sets to the Violets. The third set started rough as well as the Eagles trailed 8-3 early and still were behind the Violets later in the set at 19-14 before the Eagles would go on a match changing 6-0 run on the back of strong service from Wallace that saw them take their first lead of the third set. The Violets battled back, taking a 23-21 lead but Emory would go on to rattle off another 4-0 burst, this time on the back of strong serving from freshman Ioanna Copulos, to take the set 25-23.
The Eagles carried their momentum from the third set into the fourth as they blitzed the Violets from the jump, opening up an early 14-6 lead before going on to win the fourth set 25-17. Despite dragging the match to a fifth set the Eagles were unable to prevail, falling behind by a score of 8-3 to open the fifth before dropping the decisive set 15-9.
The Eagles return home next weekend as they play host to the Emory Classic Tournament where they will play three matches over the course of two days against St. Mary's (IN), Averett and Wooster.