From Emory University Athletics
The No. 7-ranked Emory volleyball team split a pair of matches on the final day of action at the Wid Guisler Invitational. In its first encounter, No. 15 Eastern University posted a 3-2 decision over the Eagles (25-21, 17-25, 17-25, 25-23, 15-12), before Emory regrouped to notch a 3-1 decision over No. 10 and host Juniata College (25-21, 25-17, 15-25, 25-19). Emory now stands 22-5 on the year.
In the Eastern contest, Emory finished with a slight edge in hitting percentage, registering an effort of .158 (58-30—177) compared to EU's .137 (51-27—175). The Eagles had a trio of players record double-figure kills, led by freshman Morgan McKnight who rang up 12 terminations, her third performance of 10 or more this season. The sophomore duo of Karissa Dzurik and Sydney Leimbach each came through with 11 successful attack attempts, with Leimbach hitting a keen .455 (11-1—22) while adding nine (3-6) total blocks After seeing Eastern capture the first set, Emory stormed back to claim the next two games, hitting .424 (17-3—33) in the third game. In the fourth set, Emory faced a 19-24 deficit, but rallied with a 4-0 run, highlighted by kills from McKnight, senior Jessica Holler and freshman Sarah Porter, to narrow the gap to one point. However, Eastern's Michelle Paulsen recorded a kill that closed out set, sending it to a fifth game. In the deciding set, Emory trailed by a 6-7 count before going in a 6-1 burst, that included a pair of kills by Dzurik, to lay claim to a 12-8 lead. However, Eastern responded with the final seven points of the match to walk away with the win. Sophomore Becky Breuer led all players with 26 digs while freshman Sarah Porter doled out 42 assists.
Responding to the disappointment of the setback to Eastern, Emory closed out the Juniata match with a solid .287 hitting effort (56-15—143) while JC recorded a .213 percentage (51-21—141). Leimbach paced all players with 15 terminations, tying her season high, and topped the squad with a blistering .542 (15-2—24) attack percentage. Holler and senior Sarah Maher each contributed 10 terminations, with Maher registering 10 digs, her sixth double-double of the campaign, and Holler five (1-4) total blocks. Emory's attack was clicking as it took a 2-0 lead in the match, hitting a combined .306 (30-7—75) compared to JC's .135 (23-13—74). After Juniata won the third game, Emory's defense clamped down on the Eagles, holding the hosts to a .135 hitting percentage in the fourth a final set of the contest. Breuer was steadying defensive presence with a match-high 24 digs, her third straight and fourth effort of 20 or more this year.