The Emory University volleyball team concluded the regular season with back to back wins in the Emory Classic against the Randolph-Macon Yellow Jackets and the No. 11 ranked Berry Vikings on Saturday in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Eagles finish the regular season with a 22-1 record, a 9-0 record at home, after defeating the Jackets with a 26-24, 25-16, 25-11 line and the Vikings with a 25-23, 25-20, 23-25, 25-17 four-set decision. Junior Lily Martin finished the tournament strong with 23 kills on the day, 15 against Berry, to tie her second-best career number while senior Carly Wallace also showed out with 19 kills, 16 against Berry. Junior Sarah Luong had an impressive outing posting 41 assists on Saturday with 27 of them coming in game two. Junior Deborah Hong was another standout for Emory with 27 digs against the Vikings to bring her Saturday total to 41.
The first match of the day against Randolph-Macon was a thriller with the Eagles going down 7-4 early before jumping back to an 11-9 lead at the first timeout. The Jackets continued their scoring run going up 18-12 over the Eagles. Emory was able to score eight points thanks to service errors from the Jackets and service aces to force Randolph-Macon into a timeout with a small 21-20 lead. With three more points from the Jackets and the set on the line, the Eagles went into their final timeout of the set. After the break, the Eagles scored six straight points including kills from Martin and sophomore Kaya Monrose to take the first set 26-24.
The beginning of the second set was much closer for the two teams with Randolph-Macon holding onto a 9-8 lead. The Eagles were able to go on a seven-point scoring run to take a 15-9 lead at the first timeout of the set. The scoring continued for the Eagles as they took advantage of attack errors from the Jackets and took set two 25-16.
Emory ran with the third set of the match taking a 10-4 lead on kills from juniors Alana Dawson and Madison Cail to start the match. The Jackets were able to score a few points on kills, but the energy from the Eagles were too much for Randolph Macon and the Eagles took the third set 25-11.
The first set against the Vikings was a back and forth battle between the two teams with the Eagles holding a 9-8 advantage over Berry. The first timeout of the set saw Emory with a 18-17 lead after two previous ties. The Vikings mounted a comeback on three kills to take a 23-22 lead before the Eagles called a timeout. Kills from Martin and Monrose ended the first set with a 25-23 Eagles' victory.
Emory took a quick 8-2 lead at the start of the second set forcing the Vikings into a timeout to recoup. The Eagles were able to maintain their lead before Berry tied the game at 17. Wallace finished the set with three kills to help Emory to a 25-20 victory in set two. The third set of the match saw a comeback effort from the Vikings coming back from an 8-11 deficit to a tie at 15. The remainder of the set saw eight ties between the team before Berry took the set 25-23 on an attack error from Emory.
A game finishing set was on the horizon for the Eagles taking an 13-9 lead into the first timeout of the fourth set. Emory later went on a six-point scoring run to take a 20-13 advantage over Berry and finished the set 25-17 thanks to kills from Cail and Martin.
The Eagles will host the UAA Championship tournament starting Friday, November 10 where they will face the Rochester Yellow Jackets in the first round at 12 pm.