The No. 14 ranked Emory University volleyball team's quest to capture a third straight University Athletic Association title was thwarted Saturday afternoon, falling in four sets to New York University in the championship match played at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH.

The Violets claimed the final three sets to clinch their first-ever UAA championship, 23-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-20. NYU heads into the NCAA postseason with an overall record of 26-1 while the Eagles stand at 23-5.

NYU was a dominating force at the net, recording 15.5 total team blocks and causing 30 Emory attacking errors. The Eagles hit .152 as a team (54-30—158) with three players reaching double figures in kills. Senior Tara Martin and freshman Lily Martin led the way with 12 kills each with freshman Alana Dawson adding 10 of her own. T. Martin collected a season-high 18 digs, one of four players with 10 or more digs, and junior Abby Heimlicher had five kills and a team-best six block assists. Junior Cassie Srb dished out 44 assists to go along with 10 digs.

For the Violets, Haley Holz and Abby Ausmus each tallied 11 kills to pace the NYU attack with Olivia Lewandowski chipping in with 10. Ausmus and Lewandowski both were among the team leaders in blocking as well with Ausmus recording six block assists to tie for the team lead with Taylor Odom. The Violets ended the match with a .254 hitting percentage (53-17—142).

Emory came out of the gates strong, racing out to an 8-3 lead in the opening set. NYU eventually worked itself back into the game, taking its first lead at 12-11. Neither team could gain much separation before the Eagles earned a two-point edge at 24-22 following an NYU error and a kill by Dawson. The Violets were able to fend off one point but a kill by T. Martin gave set one to Emory.

The Eagles once again started well in the second, moving in front 6-2 and 8-4 but a 5-0 run put NYU in front 9-8. The Violets continued the momentum, using an 11-1 run midway through the set en route to the 25-15 win.

In set three it was NYU who moved out to an early lead at 9-4, building to a 16-11 advantage. The Eagles were able to rally to tie the score at 19-19 with a 6-1 run spurred on by three Dawson terminations. Out of a Violet timeout, NYU claimed four of five points to go in front 23-20 forcing Head Coach Jenny McDowell to call a timeout of her own. The Eagles got as close as 24-23 on back-to-back NYU errors but a Tara Martin attack error gave the Violets the 25-23 set victory.

In the fourth and final frame, the Violets kept Emory from going on any runs in the early portion, opening up to a 16-9 lead. The Eagles were finally able to string together five straight points, responding with a 5-0 burst to move within two at 16-14. Unfortunately, Emory failed to win more than one point in a row for the remainder of the set, falling 25-20.

The Eagles will now await word on a NCAA at-large selection as the NCAA tournament field gets announced at 12:30 PM Monday afternoon on NCAA.com.