2022 Volleyball Season Recap

The Emory University volleyball program completed yet another successful season finishing 22-7, winning the UAA Championship title and making its 26^th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Head coach Jenny McDowell led the Eagles through their second full season since 2019 before announcing that she was stepping down from her position as head of the program.

Emory opened the season with a 1-1 record before going on a five-game win streak. The Eagles went 2-1 at the East-West Classic taking wins against national runner-up Trinity (3-1) and Johns Hopkins (3-0) before dropping a tough last match to eventual NCAA quarterfinalist Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (3-1). The team started its first UAA round robin emerging victorious against Case Western Reserve (3-0) and Rochester (3-0). Throughout the first half of October, the Eagles went 4-3, including wins against UAA opponents WashU (3-1) and Brandeis (3-0) and a close loss to eventual semifinalist NYU in five sets (3-2). From October 21^st to November 10^th, Emory went on a 10-game win streak sweeping both the Emory Classic Tournament and the Emory Invitational Tournament.

At the UAA Tournament in November, the Eagles started the tournament with a win against Case Western Reserve (3-0) before defeating NYU the same day (3-1) to advance to the UAA Championship game. Emory and WashU faced off on Nov. 5 for the championship with the Eagles taking the match in three sets to win the championship for the 10^th time in program history and the fourth time in five years.

The Eagles received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after their conference win and headed to Lexington, Kentucky for regional play. The team faced Bethany in the first round and defeated them with a 3-0 victory. Emory then faced off against host Transylvania for the second round of regional action. Despite the Eagles' win in the first two sets, the Pioneers were too much to overcome as they rallied to win 3-2 to close out the Eagles' season.

Emory led the UAA in kills per set with 13.77 and finished with the fourth most in the nation. The efficiency of the team's attack was one of the strongest parts of their game as they registered a .230 hitting percentage which saw them finish 25^th in the nation. Passing was another big part of the Emory season finishing fifth in the nation and first in the UAA with 12.80 assists per game.

Junior Carly Wallace led the team with 315 kills this season and averaged 3.21 per set. Her 315 kills placed her eighth in the UAA and tied for 140^th in the nation. Wallace recorded 17 games with double-digit kills this season including two games with 20. She also finished third on the team and 22^nd in the conference with 255 digs on the year. She recorded 11 games with double-digit digs including 10 against NYU (Nov. 4). For her efforts this season, Wallace garnered AVCA All-Region recognition as well as All-UAA Second Team honors. She was also the lone Emory player to be named to the AVCA All-America team earning Third Team recognition.

Another valuable player this season in her final as an Eagle was senior Lauren Bandera. She led the team with 374 digs averaging 4.40 per set finishing eighth in the conference in total digs and third in digs per set. Bandera played a huge role in the close loss against NYU in October registering 30 digs and registered 15 more games with double-digit digs.

Teammate Amanda Meyer had a strong season for the Eagles with 237 kills this season and a .310 attacking percentage. She led the team with 92 total blocks on the season to place fifth in the conference and in a tie for 66^th in the nation. Meyer also received AVCA All-Region honors while teammate Alana Dawson took home All-Region Honorable Mention.

Meyer and Wallace led the way for the Eagles, as well as sophomore Deborah Hong, with their All-UAA Second Team selections. Sophomore Madison Cail earned All-UAA recognition for the second straight year as she landed Honorable Mention recognition.

The Eagles earned the following honors during the 2022 season: