From Emory University Athletics

In a heavyweight battle featuring two of the top five Division III programs in the nation, the No. 4-ranked Emory volleyball team held off No. 2 Christopher Newport Friday evening in a match that was played on the campus of Washington & Lee. The Eagles upped their record to 13-2 following an intense 3-2 (27-25, 25-22, 19-25, 22-25, 15-9) decision over the Captains who slipped to 12-2.

Junior Kathryn Trinka headed up a balanced offensive attack that saw Emory produce four players with double figures in kills, registering a career-high 20 terminations, the high-water mark by an Eagle this season. Five of Trinka's kills came in the decisive fifth set, four of which helped staked Emory to a 9-3 advantage. Junior Sarah Maher totaled 16 successful attack attempts, her second-highest effort of the season, while classmate Jessica Holler hit a team-high .619 on the strength of 14 kills with just one error in 21 attempts. Freshman Karissa Dzurik rounded out the double-figure attackers with 10 kills. Senior setter Sydney Miles doled out a season-best 58 assists, her third-highest career mark, and also added 10 digs. In addition, Miles went over the 5,000 career-assists plateau during the match, and now owns 5,011 during her brilliant tenure with the program.  Freshman Becky Breuer led all players with 22 digs, her fifth outing of 20 or more this year.

For the match, Emory hit a solid .360 (70-12—161) compared to CNU's .267 (71-27—165).  In the final set, the Eagles made the most of their attack opportunities, hitting .600 (10-1—15) while Christopher Newport recorded an effort of .143 (6-4—14).  The Captains finished with a 69-61 edge in digs while Emory posted a 9-0 advantage in total blocks.