The Emory University volleyball team continues their impressive season with wins on Saturday afternoon against the Averett Cougars and the Mary Washington Eagles in Danville, Virginia. With her 24 digs against Averett in game one, junior Deborah Hong reached 1,000 career digs.
The No. 7 ranked Eagles improve to 18-1 on the season and currently hold a four-game win streak. They defeated the Cougars with a 22-25, 25-18, 25-12, 25-21 line followed by a five-set victory over No. 22 ranked Mary Washington with a 25-27, 25-21, 25-17, 19-25, 15-12 decision. Sophomore Kaya Monrose had one of the best days of her career posting 26 kills on the day, 13 in each game to tie the second best of her career. She also led the team with a .476 hitting percentage in game one. Junior Madison Cail played a major role in the wins with 20 kills, 13 against Mary Washington. Sophomore Olivia Rabinowitz posted 55 assists on the day, 33 coming against UMW. Hong had a career-best 32 digs in game two finishing the day with 56 total.
In game one, the Eagles jumped to a quick 7-4 lead before the Cougars answered with seven points to take an 11-9 lead in the first set. Emory was able to tie the set later at 19, but Averett went on a six-point scoring run to take the first set 25-22. The Eagles answered strong in the second set holding a 7-2 lead but the Cougars jumped back to tie the game at 7. Emory scored nine points in a row to take a 16-7 lead and Averett was unable to finish the effort and dropped the set 25-18.
The Eagles ran with set three after holding an 8-6 lead at the beginning of the set. Kills from Cail and Monrose led Emory to a 25-12 finish in the third set. The fourth set was a back and forth battle between the two teams with Emory holding a slight advantage over the Cougars. The Eagles were able to secure the set and the match with a 25-21 victory in set four.
In game two against UMW, Emory was down 5-2 early in the set before making a comeback with a four-point scoring run. The set continued back with forth with a tie at 15 followed by seven ties before Mary Washington was able to take the set 27-25. The Eagles of UMW were able to take another lead into set two taking a 20-16 lead towards the end of the set. Emory answered with 6 points on kills from junior Lily Martin and Cail and took set two 25-21.
The third set of the match played similarly to the second but Emory was able to take the advantage early and hang onto the lead. Kills from junior Alana Dawson were able to secure the third set victory 25-17. UMW would not go down without a fight turning a 7-7 tie into an 18-8 lead towards the end of the fourth set. Emory was able to close the gap but Mary Washington took the fourth set 25-19.
In the final set of the day, Emory was down 7-4 before taking advantage of attack errors from UMW to hold a 10-8 lead. A kill from Monrose ended the set and the match with a 15-12 victory.
The Eagles will be back in action on Friday, November 3 taking on Birmingham-Southern at 12 pm and Rhodes at 6 pm in the first day of the Emory Classic Tournament.