The Emory University volleyball team's season came to a heartbreaking close in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against Transylvania University Friday night in Lexington, Kentucky.
The No. 5 ranked Eagles (22-7) fell in a crushing five-set defeat, after leading two sets to none, to the regional host and No. 16 ranked Transylvania Pioneers (27-5) by a score of 27-25, 25-17, 20-25, 21-25, 13-15 as their season came to an end. The Eagles had made 11 straight Regional Final appearances prior to their defeat at the hands of the Pioneers.
Despite the loss, junior Carly Wallace did everything in her power to push the Eagles over the hump pouring 20 kills, including nine in the first set, on a team season-high 68 total attack attempts. Junior Amanda Meyer had a rock-solid match as well contributing 12 kills on a .321 hitting percentage (12-3--28) while also notching a team-high five blocks. Sophomore Lily Martin was the team's most efficient attacker tallying a .455 hitting percentage while also finishing with 11 kills. In her final match as an Eagle, senior Lauren Bandera continued to provide stellar defense as she has all season, digging up 21 balls while also serving as a secondary distributor with six assists.
The first set of the match was an absolute nailbiter as neither team led by more than two points until the Eagles went up 13-10 on a Wallace kill as part of a 4-0 Eagles run. The Pioneers knotted the set back up at 20 apiece and the two teams would trade blows from there before Transylvania took a 25-24 lead. By virtue of a Pioneer service error the match was tied back up at 25 before Wallace punctuated her nine-kill set with her final two terminations of the set to give Emory the 27-25 win.
The Eagles came out firing in the second, going on a 5-0 run, thanks to impressive serving from sophomore Alana Dawson, to put Emory in front 12-4. The Eagles faced little threat the remainder of the set, with the Pioneers not getting any closer than four points down, and freshman Olivia Rabinowitz closed out the eight-point set win with a service ace to put Emory up by two sets.
The Eagles found themselves in an early hole in the third as they allowed Transylvania to take an 8-2 lead. Emory didn't give in though, bringing the score to within one at 13-12 thanks to a 4-0 run on the back of a service run from sophomore Deborah Hong. The Pioneers would manage to pull away however, eventually taking the set 25-20.
The fourth set began in reverse fashion to the third as the Eagles jumped out to a 5-1 lead thanks to their defensive pressure forcing Transylvania into four errors. It didn't take long for the Pioneers to respond though, as a 7-0 run would put them up 14-8 in the middle stages of the set. The Eagles were able to breathe a little life back into the set as they got back within two at 20-18 thanks to a clutch block from Meyer and Martin. The Pioneers would not give in to the Emory comeback attempt though as they won the fourth set 25-21 and pushed the match into a decisive fifth set.
The two teams traded points back and forth to begin the final set before Transylvania drew first blood on a service ace and then an Emory error to put them up 7-4. The two teams would switch sides with the score at 8-5 in the Pioneers favor thanks to what was becoming an unstoppable Transylvania attack.
The Eagles saw the deficit grow to 10-6 before mounting a mini-run that consisted of a Martin kill, Hong ace and Pioneer error to bring the Eagles to within one. The Pioneers would go on to respond in kind going on a 4-1 run of their own to take a 14-10 lead and give them four match point opportunities.
After a service error from the Pioneers, the Eagles were able to stave off the second match point thanks to a mere miss on an attack from Transylvania. The third match point opportunity was taken away by a massive kill from Dawson that would bring the score to within one again this time with an opportunity to knot the match up at 14 points apiece.
With the match on the line, Rabinowitz had an excellent serve that was returned over the net to give Wallace a kill opportunity but a miraculous dig by the Pioneers gave them the only opportunity they needed as they were able to drive home a kill through the Emory block to put an end to the match.