The Emory University volleyball program continues their dominating season after wins against the Birmingham-Southern Panthers and the Rhodes College Lynx on Friday during the first day of the Emory Classic Tournament in Atlanta, Georgia.
Before the first game, junior Deborah Hong was honored for reaching 1,000 career digs last weekend while seniors Amanda Meyer and Carly Wallace were celebrated before the second game for senior night.
The Eagles improve to 20-1 on the season defeating the Panthers with a 25-21, 25-16, 25-22 line and the Lynx by a score of 25-23, 25-20, 25-19. Wallace led the day with 17 kills, 10 coming from game two while sophomore Kaya Monrose and junior Lily Martin followed behind with 14 on the day. Junior Sarah Luong had an impressive day notching 38 assists, 21 against BSC while Hong had 31 digs on the day.
In the first match against Birmingham Southern, the Eagles took a quick 10-5 lead against the Panthers to start the first set highlighted by kills from junior Alana Dawson. BSC was able to tie the set at 15 after the first timeout of the day but Emory took set one 25-21 on a kill from Dawson.
The second set started close with a 6-6 tie at the beginning of the set. The Eagles were able to pull away and take a 10-7 lead into the first timeout of the set followed by kills from Monrose and Wallace to take a 14-9 lead. The Panthers were able to notch a few kills of their own to bring the score to 14-17 before Emory went on a five-point scoring run to take a 22-14 lead. The set ended on an attack error from BSC and the Eagles took the second set 25-16.
Emory started set three with a 6-2 lead before the Panthers called an early timeout. The set continued in back and forth fashion with the Eagles holding a slight advantage over BSC. An attack error from the Panthers brought the next timeout with Emory taking a 20-16 lead but BSC was able to capitalize on attack errors from Emory to tie the game at 22. The effort fell short and the Eagles took the set and the match with a 25-22 win in set three.
The energy continued into the night against the Rhodes College Lynx after celebrating senior night. Rhodes started the first set hot taking a 7-1 lead over the Eagles but Emory was able to start a comeback thanks to kills from junior Madison Cail and Monrose. The Eagles tied the game at 11 before taking a 12-11 advantage into the first timeout. Rhodes closed the gap once again at 16 before taking a 19-17 lead but the Eagles were on fire and mounted a 25-23 comeback to take the first set on a kill from Wallace.
The second set started much like the first with the Lynx taking a 7-3 lead. Kills from four different Eagles highlighted a scoring run and Emory soon held a 12-8 lead over Rhodes. The scoring continued back and forth between the two teams with kills coming from both sides, but the Eagles were able to hold onto a 25-20 victory in set two.
The Eagles saw themselves down again after the first eight points with Rhodes holding a 5-3 advantage over Emory. The Lynx were able to jump to a 15-10 lead at the first Emory timeout but the Eagles responded strong going on a 15-4 scoring run to end the set and the match 25-19.
The Eagles will continue play in the Emory Classic Tournament on Saturday, November 4 facing Randolph-Macon at 12:15 pm and No. 11 Berry College at 4:45 pm.