Emory's third-ranked women's volleyball team won all of its four games this weekend, defeating Agnes Scott College (Ga.), Maryville College (Tenn.), Sewanee: The University of the South (Tenn.) and Oglethorpe University (Ga.) while improving their record to 18-2.
The Eagles began their weekend slate of games Friday with a home match-up against the Agnes Scott Scotties, the same team that Emory faced in the first round of last year's NCAA tournament. The Scotties initially put up a strong fight against the Eagles, holding a 10-9 lead at one point in the first game, but Emory soon put the game away. The team ultimately won the first set 25-16, and won the last two 25-7 and 25-7.
Agnes Scott's defense was unable to keep up with Emory's impressive offense, and their attack was no measure for Emory. Sophomore Shannon Nugent led the Eagles with nine kills, followed by senior Leah Jacobs and freshman Madeline DeShazer with seven each.
Junior captain Sydney Miles carried the team with 17 assists, helping her capture the number four position on Emory's all-time leaderboard with over 3,000 assists.
Later that day, the Eagles faced the Maryville Scots. The Scots fell to Emory 25-13, 25-15, 25-16. Miles again led the team with 29 assists, while senior Kate Bowman led the defense with 11 digs.
The Eagles were able to rest on Saturday and on Sunday traveled to Oglethorpe to play against the Sewanee Tigers and the host team, the Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels.
Emory started the day strong, dominating the Tigers 25-14, 25-12, 25-13. Sophomore Kathryn Trinka and Nugent led the team with eight kills each. Miles was the team leader in assists, racking up 19. Bowman continued to lead the defense with a total 18 digs.
The Eagles ended the weekend with a victory, beating Oglethorpe 25-15, 24-26, 25-16, 25-12.
Sophomore Sarah Maher and Jacobs carried the team with 14 and 16 kills, respectively. Miles contributed 42 assists, while Bowman garnered 21 digs.
The Eagles' good weekend improved their record to 18-2. Emory now sits atop the UAA standings, followed by Washington University in St. Louis' (Mo.) 17-2 record.
"This weekend gave us an opportunity to implement some new things that we worked on in practice. It was great to be able to get on the court one more time before conference play," Miles said. "I know that the team is really excited about where we are headed this season and we are just going at it day by day and enjoying every moment."
Emory will take the court again on Saturday, Oct. 4 at home for the UAA Round Robin I. The Eagles will play Case Western Reserve University (Ohio) at 12:00 p.m. and The University of Rochester (N.Y.) at 4:00 p.m.
-By Elana Cates, Contributing Writer
Eagles Dominate Foes
Emory volleyball players, including junior outside hitter Ashley Crawford (9), freshman setter Hannah Billings (13) and freshman right side hitter Natalie Hurlock huddle together after scoring a point. / Photo by Mark Spicer, Staff Writer
