The Emory University volleyball program earned two big wins on the first day of the UAA Championships against Rochester and Chicago to earn a spot in the title match on Saturday.
Emory improves to 24-1 on the season with their wins over No. 8 seeded Rochester and No. 5 seeded Chicago and advance to the UAA title match for the 19th season in a row. The Eagles have won 10 of the last 18 UAA Championships and will face NYU on Saturday for the title. Junior Lily Martin led the team with 19 kills on the day, 13 coming against the Jackets. Junior Alana Dawson also had an impressive day with 18 kills, nine in both matches. It was a day for the juniors with Deborah Hong recording 38 digs on the day with 24 against the Maroons while fellow junior Sarah Luong posted 27 assists against Chicago to total 44 on the day.
The Eagles took a quick 4-1 lead in the first set of the match but the Jackets answered with three points of their own to tie the set at 4. The set continued back and forth with Rochester holding an 11-9 lead over Emory thanks to attack errors from the Eagles' offense. Emory was able to jump back to a 19-15 lead thanks to kills from Martin and junior Madison Cail to force a timeout from the Jackets. The Eagles continued their momentum for the remainder of the set to take the first set 25-18.
Emory started the second set on fire taking an 8-1 lead over Rochester forcing an early timeout from the Jackets. Kills from Cail, Dawson and sophomore Kaya Monrose highlighted the second set with the Eagles taking an 18-8 lead towards the end of the set. Senior Carly Wallace finished the set with three kills to help Emory secure set two 25-12.
The third set played similar to the first with the two teams tied at six at the beginning of the set before the Eagles went on a four-point run to take a 13-9 lead. Kills from Martin highlighted the next run helping Emory to a 17-12 advantage at the next timeout from the Jackets. The energy continued for the Eagles and they took the third set 25-17.
In the second match against Chicago, the Eagles were able to jump to an early 7-3 lead in the first set thanks to kills from Martin and attack errors from the Maroons. The momentum continued for Emory taking a 15-11 lead into the first timeout of the set before finishing the set 25-20 on kills from Dawson and Cail.
The Eagles dominated the second set taking a 4-0 lead to force a timeout from Chicago. The Eagles then jumped to a 10-5 lead highlighted by more kills from Martin. The set continued back and forth with both teams scoring but the Eagles were able to hold a 17-10 advantage at the next timeout from the Maroons. Cail closed out the second set with two kills to help Emory secure set two 25-15.
The Maroons were looking for a comeback in set three tying the set at 7 before taking an 11-10 lead. The Eagles wouldn't go down without a fight tying the game three times until they were able to pull away with a 16-14 lead. Emory took a 22-18 lead into the next timeout from Chicago and the Maroons came out of the break swinging. Chicago tied the game at 25 before junior Jessica Majka ended the set and the match with a kill and a 27-25 line for the Eagles.
Emory will face the NYU Violets on Saturday, November 11 at 1 pm in the UAA Championship match.