The Emory University volleyball team traveled to Ashland, Virginia, on Oct. 22 to compete at the Randolph-Macon Invitational. In the first of two matches of the weekend, the No. 12 Eagles took on Christopher Newport University (Va.), defeating the Captains in straight sets (25-19, 25-18, 25-18) to secure their fifth consecutive victory.
Leading the charge for the Eagles were senior libero Lauren Bandera with a match-best 19 digs, freshman right side hitter Alana Dawson with a match-best 12 kills, freshman middle hitter Madison Cail with a match-best two service aces and a .545 kill percentage, as well as senior outside hitter Tara Martin and freshman outside hitter Lily Martin who tallied nine and eight kills, respectively.
Emory started the first set strong with a kill by Cail to open the scoring, staying neck-and-neck with the Captains. The Eagles, however, opened up a four point lead at 5-5 by going on a five to one run. After sustaining their lead for the remainder of the set, the Eagles won 25-19.
In the second set, the Eagles were tested early and trailed 9-10 in the tightly contested set. After regaining the lead 11-10 with block assists from junior setter Cassie Srb, senior middle hitter Roissin O’Dowd and Tara Martin, the Eagles went on a 5-0 run at 11-11, before closing out the set at 25-18.
In the third and final set, the Eagles trailed 4-1 early but rallied back after back-and-forth play. After trailing 12-13, the Eagles went on a five-point run fueled by consecutive kills from Lily Martin, each assisted by Srb who tallied a match-best 31 assists. Although the Captains fought back to decrease the point differential to three, the Eagles managed to hold them off, winning five of the final six points to secure the victory in straight sets.
In the second match of the Invitational on Oct. 23, the Eagles battled for a resilient, hard-fought victory against the host Randolph-Macon College (Va.) Yellow Jackets, winning in five sets (13-25, 25-17, 22-25, 25-21, 15-13). Leading the team were Bandera with a match-best 25 digs, Tara Martin and Dawson with 14 and 13 kills respectively and Srb with a match-best 46 assists.
In the first set, the teams went back-and-forth and ended up tied at 7-7. Shortly thereafter, though, Randolph-Macon opened up the scoring and limited the Eagles to only five more points for the rest of the set.
Despite the lack of offensive output and defensive answers in the first set, the Eagles showed grit and determination in the second to knot up the match at a set apiece. After even play from both sides for the majority of the set, the Eagles would go on a five-point run at 15-14 to create a six-point lead. The Eagles’ run was sparked by a Randolph-Macon service error followed by consecutive kills by Lily Martin, and strong serves from Dawson. The Eagles closed out the set by winning five of the last seven points.
Emory began the third set on an incredibly strong note, creating a lead which ballooned to eight points which put the score at 14-6. The Yellow Jackets, however, furiously stormed back, going on to win 13 of the next 18 points to tie the set at 19. While the Eagles and Yellow Jackets traded points before the Eagles regained their lead at 21-20, Yellow Jackets junior outside hitter Grace Parker went on a dominant run, tallying four consecutive kills before picking up yet another kill a point later to give the Yellow Jackets the set. Parker boasted an impressive 27 kills on the day, with the next highest scorer Dawson tallying 14.
After a gut-wrenching collapse in the third, the Eagles showed their resilience in the fourth set, forcing a fifth. The set was close throughout, and though the Eagles jumped ahead 15-10 then 17-12, the Yellow Jackets caught up once again drawing within one at 17-16 and again at 21-20. Freshman outside hitter Carly Wallace was pivotal for the Eagles in forcing the fifth set, tallying a kill followed by her third service ace to put the team up by three. Wallace then put up yet another kill a point later before Cail finished off the set with an ace.
In the fifth and final set, the Eagles trailed for the majority, down three points at 6-9, 7-10, 8-11 and 9-12. At 9-12, the Eagles went on to win the next two points on a kill by Tara Martin and an ace from Srb before losing the next point via a service error. At 11-13, the Eagles went on to win four points in a row carried by Dawson’s three kills to secure the come-from-behind victory over the Yellow Jackets.
Head coach Jenny McDowell is excited to see how the team’s momentum carries into next month.
“We have been working so hard in practice, and it was fun to see it transfer to the match,” McDowell said. “We are getting better every week. There’s no question we are ready to play our best in November; that’s what Emory volleyball is all about.”
Tara Martin, on the other hand, said the games weren’t the Eagles’ best. However, she feels they played a crucial role in team development.
“Randolph-Macon was a very tough team to beat, and at the beginning of the game we were not playing to our full potential,” Martin said. “By the end of the match, you could feel that everyone started to gain confidence and believe in themselves and the team. I believe that is one of the main reasons we were able to grind out two wins this weekend.”
The 19-3 Eagles will have a well-deserved rest following their unbeaten run in Ashland before hosting Hendrix College (Ark.) and Birmingham-Southern College (Ala.) on Oct. 29 and 30 at the Woodruff Physical Education Center for the National Invitational.
