No. 4 Emory 3, Brandeis 0
Washington (Mo.) 3, No. 4 Emory 2
SAINT LOUIS -- No. 4 Emory closed out its participation at the University Athletic Association Round Robin II on Sunday by splitting two contests. The Eagles opened with a 3-0 (25-6, 25-15, 25-11) victory against Brandeis before coming out on the short end of 3-2 verdict to No. 11 and host Washington (Mo.) (18-25, 25-20, 25-21, 21-25, 13-15). The Eagles are now 24-3 (5-2 UAA).
Emory breezed through its match against the Judges, recording a .373 attack percentage (39-8—83) while limiting its opposition to -.039 (16-19—77). Sophomore Ashley Crawford made the most of her playing time, leading all players with 10 kills, her second double-figure effort of the campaign, and finishing with a .450 hitting effort (10-1—20). Junior Leah Jacobs rang up eight terminations and turned in a .438 (8-1—16) hitting effort. Sophomore Sydney Miles dished out 27 assists while freshmen Catalina Jimenez and Sheridan Rice paced the team with seven digs apiece.
After seeing the Bears of Wash U take the first set, the Eagles bounced back with wins in games two and three to take a 2-1 lead in the match. In the fourth set, a kill by junior Kate Bowman capped a 5-2 Emory run and gave the Eagles a 15-13 advantage. However, Wash U responded with seven straight points to assume a 20-15 lead that stood up, forcing the fifth and deciding game. The Eagles got out of the blocks quickly and bolted to a 9-4 lead following a kill by Jacobs. After the teams exchanged points, the Bears accounted for the next three points to creep to within a 10-8 score. Emory answered with a 3-1 spurt, highlighted by kills from freshman Jessica Holler and Bowman to claim what seemed to be a solid 13-9 advantage. However, Wash U scored six straight points, four coming off Emory attack errors to close out the match and come away with the victory. Holler recorded team highs with 14 kills, a .370 hitting percentage (14-4—27) and tied with Cat McGrath for a squad-best six (1-5) total blocks. Bowman was the other Eagle to tally double digits in terminations with a dozen kills. Jimenez and sophomore Taylor Erwin tied for team honors with 13 digs. For the match, Emory posted a .183 attack percentage (54-26—153) while the Bears counted with a .217 effort (62-28—157). Each team finished with 58 digs while Emory held a 13-10 margin in total blocks.
No. 10 Juniata 3, Goucher 0
WASHINGTON -- Tenth-ranked Juniata completed the regular-season sweep of Landmark Conference opponents, defeating Goucher 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-14). The Eagles improved to 23-3 on the year and 5-0 in conference play.
Juniata put together another complete-game team effort, not allowing the Gophers to tally more than 20 points in each of the three sets. Senior outside hitter Rachelle Wiegand gave another strong performance, raining down a match-high 11 kills off a .360 average.
Senior Sarah McCarthy had a match-high 36 assists and led the Eagles defense with 11 digs. Junior Brittani Young and Wiegand rounded out the top defensive play for Juniata with eight and seven digs respectively.
Overall, the Eagles hit for a .422 team average and notched 15 service aces. The number marks the second-highest team total for aces on the year. Junior Christine Sumner equaled a career-high with five aces in the match. Freshmen Suzanne Gloekler and Brittanie Tannenbaum each added three aces.
