The Emory University volleyball team will play for the UAA championship after defeating Case Western Reserve and NYU Friday afternoon in Brooklyn, NY.
The No. 6 ranked Eagles (20-6, 4-3 UAA) downed Case Western Reserve in the UAA quarterfinals in straight sets 25-18, 25-15, 25-23 before avenging last year's conference championship defeat by defeating the top-seeded Violets in four sets 25-18, 18-25, 25-22, 25-20 in the semifinals.
The Eagles will battle WashU in the championship match tomorrow at 1:00 PM at the Pratt Institute. It will be the fourth straight title match appearance for Emory and 14th of the last 15 seasons as the Eagles go for their 10th conference title. It will be a rivalry renewed in the championship match as Emory and WashU are set to battle for the UAA crown for the ninth time since 2007 and first since 2017.
Junior Carly Wallace was phenomenal for the Eagles all day, combining for a team-high 30 kills, including a match-high 19 in the NYU contest, on a .207 hitting percentage (30-13--82). Freshman Olivia Rabinowitz stewarded Emory's offense with 46 assists in the NYU match and 26 against Case Western Reserve. Sophomore Madison Cail was an imposing presence at the net against Case Western Reserve with five blocks while also contributing nine kills on a .400 hitting percentage (9-1--20). Senior Lauren Bandera was an Eagles staple in the back row, combining for 35 digs as she kept Emory in many hard fought points.
In the first match of the day against Case Western Reserve, the Eagles started in an early hole going down 4-1 but would quickly right the ship. A 6-1 run in the middle of the set, highlighted by three terminations from junior Amanda Meyer, saw Emory tie up the set at 10 apiece. The Eagles took command from there, winning the first set 25-18 with another 4-0 run towards the end of the set.
The Eagles took control of the second set early, going on a 9-0 scoring run with a masterful serving session from Wallace, and Emory would run into little trouble the rest of the set winning 25-15. The third set was a much more competitive affair with the Spartans going on an early 8-0 run in the set to take a 9-4 win as they stifled the Eagles attack. Emory continued to do what they have done all season long and battled back, knotting up the set at 12 points apiece. Case Western Reserve had one final run in them though moving into a late 22-17 lead. The Eagles remained unphased and would go on an impressive 7-0 run with Rabinowitz serving to take the set 25-23 and thus the match.
In the semifinal against NYU, the Eagles played some of their best volleyball of the season to take the match in four sets. The first set began as many have as a back-and-forth affair with neither team leading by more than two points until over 20 points into the match. The Eagles made their first push of the match in the middle of the first set going on a 4-0 run with the final point of the run coming on a beautiful sneak attack from Rabinowitz to put them up 16-10. One more 4-0 run, including a service ace from sophomore Deborah Hong, gave the Eagles the first set 25-18.
The second set flipped in the Violets favor, in large part due to a 9-0 run in the early aught of the set with NYU prevailing 25-18. With the match tied up at a set apiece and the Eagles conference season on the line, Emory stepped up with a big time performance in the third set. Emory built themselves an early cushion with an 11-4 lead, however, the Violets, also realizing the urgency of the set, battled back to tie the set up at 16. Some tense, long rallies between the two teams saw the Eagles do just enough to take the third set 25-22 on one of Wallace's 19 kills.
The final set of the match was defined by Emory's defense as they made some miraculous saves to keep them in points and strong blocking at the net put them over the edge. A two point set was busted wide open on a 4-0 run from the Eagles that included a service ace from Hong and two massive terminations from Wallace and put Emory up 13-7. In what had become a staple of the match, NYU fought back to tie the match up at 15 apiece but the Eagles rode a wave of momentum outscoring the Violets 5-1 to close the match on Wallace's 19th and final kill of the match.