The No. 13 ranked Eagles picked up two pivotal wins in the third and final UAA Round Robin Sunday afternoon against Rochester and No. 18 ranked Chicago. The wins move the Eagles to 17-3 on the season and to 6-1 in conference play, earning the second seed in the conference tournament at Case Western Reserve on November 5-6.
In match one of the day Emory trounced Rochester in straight sets by a score of 25-14, 25-14, 25-10. Senior Tara Martin was in control of the early session contributing 15 of the Eagles 35 total kills with a hitting percentage of .407 (15-4--27). Freshman Madison Cail continued her impressive rookie campaign as she hit .875 (7-0--8) and had three of the team's seven total blocks. The Eagles dominated every facet of the match, out-hitting the Yellowjackets .352 to -.023 and out-blocking them seven to four.
Emory handled its business in dominant fashion as they never trailed Rochester for the duration of the match. Their victory was highlighted by a seven point run in the first half that featured superb serving from sophomore Carly Wallace including a service ace to give Emory a 15-6 lead. The Eagles put the match away in the third set with a six point run that featured another four kills from Martin to give Emory a 24-9 lead.
In match two, Emory earned a tight straight set victory over Chicago with a score of 26-24, 25-18, 25-19. Martin carried her momentum from the first match right into match two as she led the Eagles in kills in each set, finished the match with 17 terminations. Following behind her were freshmen Lily Martin and Cail who finished with nine and eight kills, respectively. Junior setter Cassie Srb led the Eagles with an impressive 39 assists while senior libero Lauren Bandera led the team in digs with 17.
The Eagles trailed the Maroons early in the first set but mounted an eight point run after a timeout to regain a 15-13 lead. The set went back and forth for a while before the Eagles eventually fell behind 22-19 on a service error. Emory hadn't given up yet though as they mounted yet another comeback to take a 23 -22 lead that was punctuated by a ferocious L. Martin kill forcing a Chicago timeout. The Eagles ended up taking the set 26-24 on consecutive setting errors by the Maroons.
Emory took care of business in sets two and three out-attacking Chicago by a combined 36 to 19. Chicago took the first point of the second set but that would mark the last time Emory trailed for the remainder of the match.
The Eagles take the court again next weekend October 22-23 as they travel to Ashland, VA for the Randolph-Mason Classic to face top-ranked Johns Hopkins, Christopher Newport and host Randolph Macon.