The Emory volleyball team beat No. 9 Berry College (Ga.) on Nov. 1 and Wittenberg University (Ohio) and Washington and Lee University (Va.) on Nov. 2 to win the Emory National Invitational. The victories extended the Eagles’ winning streak to seven, their third winning streak of at least six games this season, and concluded their regular season with an overall record of 26-2 and a No. 2 national ranking.
Head Coach Jenny McDowell said she is pleased with the team’s overall performance during the regular season but still thinks they are capable of more.
“I think we’re all very proud of our record, and it’s a great testament to coming into the season in great physical and mental shape,” McDowell said. “The fun part is that we have areas to improve, [and] I believe the best is still to come.”
Like many of Emory’s opponents this season, Berry fought hard early on but was eventually worn down by the Eagles’ superior play. After a narrow 25-23 victory for Emory in the first set, the Eagles produced a dominant .380 hitting percentage across the next two sets to take the second set 25-16 and the third set 25-18. A well-balanced offense saw senior outside hitter Morgan McKnight, sophomore outside hitter Tara Martin, junior right-side hitter Leah Saunders and junior middle hitter Maggie Rimmel have between eight and 13 kills each. Freshman setter Cassie Srb’s defense and setting provided 37 assists to go along with a team-high 11 digs.
McDowell said she was very pleased with the competition the weekend’s opponents provided.
“I’m actually super fired up with all three matches [this weekend],” McDowell said. “We got challenged in so many different ways, and these matches were great preparation for the conference championships this weekend.”
Wittenburg also started strong but, unlike Berry, had something to show for their early efforts. Wittenburg blitzed the Eagles for a 25-14 first set win and held the usually dynamic Emory offense to a negative hitting percentage. Remarkably, the unranked Wittenburg team went on to win the second set 25-20 as well.
Down 2-0 in sets for only the second time all season, Rimmel said all the team had to do to comeback was regain their identity as a team.
“The only adjustment we really made was to play like us,” Rimmel said. “ I think we weren’t playing like ourselves initially, and once we flipped the switch, the momentum of the game changed completely.”
The adjustments paid off, and the Eagles completed their first 0-2 comeback in two years by winning the third set 25-18, the fourth set 25-21 and the fifth set 15-12. Saunders came through for Emory on both ends with 17 kills and 12 digs, while senior libero Elyse Thompson led the defense with 24 digs.
Against Washington and Lee, the Eagles once again dug themselves an early hole with a 25-16 first set defeat which included an early 7-0 deficit. Emory responded well in the second set and ground out a 25-18 victory with neither team’s offenses finding much success and hitting a poor percentage. The Eagles’ offense produced 25-17 victories in both the third and fourth sets, and allowed Emory to secure the National Invitational Victory.
Rimmel and Martin led the offensive outbreak with a combined 26 kills on a very efficient .426 hitting percentage. Martin’s hitting performance throughout the weekend earned her the titles of Invitational MVP and University Athletic Association (UAA) Hitter of the Week.
Despite early dropped sets being one of the more negative themes of the weekend, Rimmel believes these sets are important learning opportunities.
“I think that each one of these sets taught us something valuable that we can take with us moving forward,” Rimmel said. “We’re just going to keep playing like Emory volleyball in the future. It’s always worked for us and will continue to work for us now.”
Emory’s postseason begins with the UAA championship quarterfinals on Nov. 8 at the University of Chicago (UChicago) against Brandeis University (Mass.). If the Eagles win, the semifinals will be held on the same day, and the finals will be held on Nov. 9.
Even though Emory beat Brandeis 3-0 in the regular season, Rimmel said they are not overlooking quarterfinal and semifinal opponents on the road to a projected UAA final against No.1 UChicago.
“Although we are greatly anticipating another match with Chicago, we can’t look past the matches that it’s going to take to get there,” Rimmel said. “Every match is equally important at this point and we will take every one very seriously.”
McDowell said the team is eager to begin their defence of both the UAA and NCAA titles.
“We always play our best in November so we’re excited to get started,” McDowell said.
